Everlasting Flames
by Reidyn
Summary: A new pop star has risen from the masses of Japan and is on her way to achieving ultimate success...until she's killed by a hollow. Now Youhna finds herself being forced to go to the academy for soul reapers and may have a shot at becoming a captain.
1. Chapter 1

**Everlasting Flames**

**By Reidyn**

_Summary: A new Japanese pop star has risen from among the masses of Japan and is on her way to achieving ultimate success…until her life is tragically cut short by a hollow. Now Youhna finds herself in the Soul Society where she is forced to go to the academy for soul reapers and may be on the road to becoming a captain._

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach that belongs to Tite Kubo. My only characters are Youhna, Kai, Nakazumi, Damien, and Akira for now that is…**

**Chapter 1: Death's Lullaby**

The stage lights automatically came on, illuminating the stage under the night time sky.

"Wow! Nakazumi really knew what she was talking about when she envisioned the concert under the stars." Youhna said, leaning on her boyfriend who was also admiring the background.

"We're lucky it's a clear night."

The Japanese pop singer shook her head at her drummer. "For once Damien, can you please try not to jinx us before the performance?"

"Nope, trying is overrated."

A woman with a headphone set suddenly entered the room.

"Alright everyone places!"

Youhna stole a quick kiss from her boyfriend before running to her appropriate spot. "Wish me luck!"

The platform that the singer stood on slowly rose to the surface of the stage, where her thousands of fans cheered for her.

Youhna stood in the middle of the stage with a short white dress that stopped at her knees along with some glittery fingerless gloves and waited for the song to begin. The tempo was slow and full of wonder.

"Wake up, this can't be real. I feel a breeze around me and yet the water's still. Stars twinkle in the abyss above. Maybe they'll show me my true love. On the ground lays my only charm. My sakura-"

A sudden pain irrupted in her chest, knocking her back five feet and sent her sliding across the floor of the stage. The audience gasped as they watched a pool of blood form around the popular singer. Damien was the first one at her side followed by Nakazumi and finally her boyfriend Kai. Damien turned the girl over only to meet her lifeless gaze now facing the heavens. Despite the obvious fact that his best friend was gone, he tried to wake the girl up from gently shaking her to desperately shaking her shoulders so hard that her head repeatedly hit the stage floor.

"Stop," Nakazumi ordered quietly. "There's nothing we can do she's gone."

"We don't know that!" Kai demanded, getting ready to uselessly shake the corpse. Nakazumi pointed at the wound on the girl's chest.

"Whatever hit her made sure she wouldn't survive." The manager placed a finger through the wound, touching the floor. "She's skewered. My only question is what the heck did this and why?"

* * *

**Author's Note: Okay, the first chap's way too small for my liking, but I get my point across. Maybe I should've made it a prologue…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A Shinigami's Promise**

A Senkaimon gate slowly opened high above the city of Karakura Town. Two hell butterflies fluttered out before two figures entered the Real World.

"Do you feel that spiritual power from all the way up here Taicho?"

Her captain turned his gaze towards the town below.

"Yes and it seems to be radiating from downtown. Let's go."

The two Shinigamis flash stepped towards the south of Karakura.

The hollow stomped through the town with the soul of a teenage girl in its grasp. Her body was slung ungracefully over the monster's fingers. She was still unconscious from the attack. Despite the fact that the monster is over fifty feet tall, it went unrecognized by all of the people below. The monster let out a feral roar as it felt someone slice at its back. A woman with strawberry-blond hair and piercing light blue eyes watched from the roof of a nearby building as her sword continued to attack the hollow. Haineko regained its sealed form as Captain Hitsugaya separated the arm holding the girl from its owner.

Matsumoto caught the girl in mid-air and moved out the way as her Captain unleashed his sword.

"Sit upon the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

The ice dragon completely engulfed the hollow, leaving behind the remains of the monster in an ice statue before crumbling into ice chips. Matsumoto was busy trying to wake the girl up. She finally succeeded when she saw two light brown eyes stare back at her.

"Ugh, what happened? Where am I?"

The girl's skin was a golden brown and her ebony hair was styled in two looped buns before descending to the girl's elbows. Matsumoto stared at the girl for a minute. She looked just like…

"Are you Youhna Auouye?"

The girl nodded her head. "How do you know me? Wait, who are you?" Youhna asked, looking at Matsumoto up and down.

Youhna soon found herself being crushed in the woman's bosom.

"Oh my god I'm a big fan of your songs! You're one of the best singers ever!"

"Matsumoto let Ms. Auouye go."

The Lieutenant moved out of the way for a boy with spiky white hair. His eyes were an alluring shade of turquoise and his skin was caramel colored. Youhna scooted herself back from the two when she saw that they were both armed with swords.

"What are you planning to do with me?"

The boy shook his head. "I don't think she knows that she's dead…"

Youhna stared at the boy, wide eyed. "Dead? I'm dead?" Her breathing suddenly turned labored and she began to panic. "I-I can't be…" The pop star looked down to see a chain protruding from her chest. With both hands she fruitlessly yanked at the chain until a sharp pain seared through her chest. "This can't be happening!" A pair of hands took hers and gently pulled them away from the soul chain.

"I'm sorry, but you're a spirit now and if you don't let us perform a soul konso on you then we will be forced to kill you later when you become a hollow."

The girl looked at Matsumoto and laughed. "I get it now this is a joke! Good one, now where's Nakazumi, Damien, and Kai?" Toshiro rolled his eyes.

"This is getting us nowhere. Let's just send her to the Soul society and be done with it."

He took out his zanpukto and approached Youhna who was unknowingly backing herself off of the building.

"Stay back!"

Toshiro came closer.

"I'm warning you!"

He grabbed the girl's arm and almost touched her forehead with the hilt of his zanpukto when she ducked and kicked him in the shin. Matsumoto watched in amusement as Youhna and Toshiro continued to fight each other. The singer repeatedly dodged the hilt of Toshiro's blade until she slipped on some ice.

The hilt touched the girl's forehead and started to give off a light blue color. Youhna started sinking into the roof and in desperation she grabbed Toshiro's ankles.

"What did you do to me?"

There was silence between the three.

"Let go." The boy's words were chilling, but she wasn't letting go.

"Not until you tell me what you did!"

The air was suddenly freezing to the point where Youhna could see her breath.

"I said let go." She still wouldn't release him.

"I promise you where you're going is a lot safer than here for a soul like you, now release me."

Youhna finally relented and let the boy go, letting herself slowly melt into the roof before vanishing completely. The new hell butterfly flew into the night sky. Matsumoto stood up and watched her captain walk/limp to the edge of the building.

"Something wrong with your knee Taicho?" Matsumoto asked, knowing full well that Youhna had struck a blow there. Captain Hitsugaya winced as he took another step.

"Shut up, Matsumoto."

* * *

**Author's Note: Alright! I got done with the second chap without getting writer's block! I hope you're enjoying this and please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Newcomer of the Rukogan District**

The peaceful tings of chimes woke Youhna from her slumber. What happened? She was somewhere in the middle of the forest, but where did the chimes come from? Above her was a group of chimes that danced in the morning breeze. "I wonder who put those there…" Youhna stared at them for a while before deciding to move on.

In the shadows of a great evergreen tree was a man with violet colored eyes and shoulder-length red hair that silently followed the foreign girl into the country side.

…

Youhna walked along the dirt road in search of a place to stay for a while. She knew that she didn't have much time to find a shelter before night falls, so she decided to run to get to the city down the road. By the time she got there she was exhausted and famished. The 'city' was a rundown place that looked like it had been gutted from the inside out. Local drunks lay sprawled out on the side of the road were completely ignored by the passerbys who got what they needed for their families and went about their business.

The girl stumbled through the city, receiving lustful looks from older men and drunks. That short white dress of hers gained more attention than she liked and it was the wrong kind of attention also.

"Hey cutie, why don't cha follow me home?"

Youhna respectfully declined. "No thanks, I'm not that type of girl." The man grabbed hold of her arm.

"That wasn't a suggestion it was an order."

The man pulled her to a dark alleyway and Youhna fought him the whole way, but she couldn't loosen that vice like grip.

"Let go of me!"

The man slung her into a brick wall and slapped her. "Shut up!"

She fell to the ground, utterly stunned. The man proceeded onward when a high pitched whistle pierced the silence of the air. A dirk buried itself in the wall, whizzing pass the spot where the man stood moments before he threw himself to the floor.

"Who threw that?"

A boy with violet eyes and shoulder-length red hair jumped down from a nearby rooftop.

"That would be me."

He pulled out a wicked looking dagger from behind his neck and touched the end of the blade. A drop of blood ran along the tip, making a trail to the hilt. The man didn't seem fazed by his opponent he unsheathed his katana that was on his back.

"This is your first and last warning kid, get out of here. This doesn't concern you."

The boy only smirked. "My name's Akira and this doesn't concern her either."

Youhna was watching the whole thing from the alleyway. As much as she wanted to get up, her body wouldn't allow her. Akira's dagger struck the man's katana before he dodged a flurry of slashes.

A sudden surge of spiritual pressure was released from Akira. The man with the katana fell to the ground as if he was underneath a large boulder. The man struggled and continued to struggle, but it was all in vain.

"You can stop trying; it's useless if you don't have any spiritual energy."

Akira shook his head before letting his dagger dig into the back of man's neck.

The man's body went limp and Akira turned to the girl who was unconscious against the wall of the alleyway.

"Hey, wake up."

He gently shook her shoulder. She didn't respond, but she was still breathing which was a good sign. The young ninja picked the girl up and flash-stepped out of the alleyway and into a large building on the other side of town. He sat the girl on the old bed and shook her again.

This time the girl opened her eyes and focused them on him. "Ugh, where am I now? Hey you answer."

Akira was taken aback by the girl's rudeness. "We're in an abandoned building across town-"

The girl shook her head. "No, no, no. You don't understand I mean what city is this?"

"This is Rukongai, 75th district."

Youhna sat up when her stomach growled loudly. The boy smirked.

"Just as I thought, you have spiritual pressure too." He took out a small red apple from the inside of his black robe and tossed it to Youhna.

"Since you have spiritual energy, your life will be a little more complicated. You will have to find food and water or your spiritual energy will drop and you will die."

"Wait, how can you tell that someone has spiritual energy?"

Akira sat some dark brown clothes on the bed.

"If a soul here gets hungry then that means that they have potential spiritual power and maybe even enough to join the Soul Reaper Academy."

"What's a Soul Reaper?"

"A soul reaper or a shinigami is someone who governs the flow of souls between the human world and the afterlife."

Youhna remembered the two people who transported her to this place.

"Do they have black traditional robes and long swords?" Akira nodded.

"Actually the 'sword' is called a zanpukto because it's actually made from the soul of the owner and the spirit that lives within it is like the owner's alter ego."

Akira pointed to the neat stack of clothes on the foot of the bed. "These clothes will help you blend in around here." With that the young man left her in the room.

* * *

**Author's Note: Now I don't even know what I was doing in the part. I started off with Youhna arriving in the Rukogan District and ended up with Akira. So much for being in control…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Heat Waves**

Youhna left the room in the civilian attire with the small apple in her hand. "Akira! Hey where are you?"

The girl stepped down the stairs, munching on the sweet fruit as she went. There was a sudden clang of metal and she accelerated her pace to the front door. Youhna stepped outside where she saw Akira blocking a trio of vicious claws with his small dagger. He was already pushed against the wall of the building so she knew that he couldn't block the hollow's claws for long.

Youhna grabbed a long pole from the side of the building and charged at the hollow. She dodged the hollow's claws and succeeded in leaving a long gash in the hollow's arm. The monster let out an earsplitting scream and disappeared into a dark portal.

"Good it's gone."

"No it's not…" Akira pulled himself off of the wall. "He's coming back."

The shriek came from behind as the two teenagers both turned to see the hollow lunging at them, large mouth agape. Akira pushed Youhna out of the way just in time to avoid being slammed into the ground.

"Akira!"

Youhna ran at the hollow again, this time focused on separating an arm from the body. The hollow used its other hand to slap the girl out of the air like a worthless fly. The girl hit the ground and tumbled into a nearby tree. She slowly picked herself off the ground and shakily stood up, her ebony bangs covering her eyes. Blood from her hip and shoulder splattered on the dry ground.

The hollow had already choked the boy until he lost consciousness. The air around him suddenly became hot and he could see heat waves all around him. Among them was Youhna who was slowly staggering towards the two.

"Let him go." She said in an all too deadly voice.

The hollow laughed. "What are you going to do little girl? Beg me to death?"

Youhna didn't reply, she simply raised a hand in the air and the unfortunate trees that were nearby were set ablaze.

The girl slowly raised her head to show her fiery ember colored eyes. Embers coming from the burning trees gathered into a mass and surrounded both Akira and the hollow.

"What is this?"

The embers closed in while other groups of them took to the skies. The sky turned scarlet as a circle of fire slowly formed around both Akira and Youhna. The hollow backed away from the girl's spiritual pressure as she came closer.

A giant fireball fell from the sky and created a crater in the Earth where the hollow used to be. The fire started to spread along the ground and started to slither towards the other buildings. The flames eventually died down before it did any real damage. Youhna sunk to the burning earth, panting on her hands and knees. Too weak to even move, she laid beside the still unconscious Akira as the sky returned to its mellow light blue color.

…

Lieutenant Omaeda ran into his Captain's office grasping a letter and panting.

"Tai…cho head Captain Yama…moto sent a report from the… 75th district! There was… a hollow attack and a fire!"

Soi fon looked up from her desk and stared at her out of shape lieutenant. "Well what are you waiting for? Bring it here." Omaeda did as he was told and placed the report in her hand.

The Captain glanced over the sheet of paper with interest. "Witnesses say that a thirty foot tall hollow attacked two teenagers and was killed by a young female with long black hair looped in two buns. Her skin was golden brown and there was another teenager. This one had shoulder-length red hair and he was found unconscious. The sky turned red and the scene of the attack was scorched." The Captain of the 2nd division stood up with her sword already strapped to her back.

"Let's go Omaeda."

The two shunpoed to the 75th district a moment later. As soon as they landed they could sense two reiatsus colliding with each other. The first one was hard to miss since it was in the air and on the ground, practically smothering the other.

"This way."

The two shinigamis flash-stepped to the other side of town where they spotted the burnt battlefield from above. "Taicho look the ground's still smoking!"

Soi fon placed her hand above the burnt soil. "This happened recently, so recently that we can follow the trail of reiatsu that the two left and they aren't far either." She said, turning to a nearby building.

…

There was a forceful knock on the front door and Youhna turned over. "Go away." After the attack the girl had to drag her friend inside with her scorched hands and treat her wounds. Running on low spiritual energy, it wasn't hard to fall asleep. The person had beaten on the door again. Youhna reluctantly hoisted herself out of her bed. "I'm coming…"

The girl opened the door to two people wearing black robes and carrying swords. "What do you want Shinigamis? It'd better be a good reason for practically beating down my door."

The woman outside of the door raised an eyebrow at her bluntness. "We're looking for two teenagers that were involved in a hollow attack that occurred earlier today." The woman glanced at the girl's shoulder, hip, and finally her badly burnt hands. "I assume that was you." She said, gesturing at her wounds.

The same reiatsu from earlier started to unsteadily skyrocket. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The woman shook her head. "Did you know that certain feelings such as anger, defensiveness, or denial can trigger a rapid increase in reiatsu?"

Youhna backed away from the two. "I was only defending myself and my friend, nothing more."

The woman smiled. "My name is Soi fon, Captain of the 2nd division."

"I didn't ask your name all I want is for you to be gone."

Soi fon put her foot through the door. "Let me put this in simpler terms… I was sent here by the Head Captain of the Thirdteen Gotei Squads to take care of the disturbance in this area, which would be you and your friend. If you two don't enroll into the shinigami academy then I'm going to have to place both of you under arrest and you'll have to await trial, which would certainly be death."

Youhna fell back. "Why would they kill us?"

The woman unsheathed out her zanpukto and pointed it at Youhna's neck.

"I will be back in approximately seven days to investigate your enrollment into the academy. If you're not students then I will take you both into custody." Both the Captain and her lieutenant shupoed away, leaving Youhna standing in the doorway.

* * *

**Author's Note: Of course, writer's block reeled its ugly head once again and now I'm stuck. Hopefully I can finish this story like I had originally planned. While I'm thinking over the story, don't hesitate to leave any comments concerning this story. Thank you!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Enrollment and Exams**

Shino Academy was bigger than what Youhna had expected. The large building had towered over both her and her friend as they approached a desk a woman was sitting at with multiple clipboards on the surface.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

Youhna nodded. "Um yes, we're here to enroll into the academy."

"Oh, well if that's the case then sign here and we'll be happy to contact you when your exam day comes. We have a lot of applicants applying this year, but we only accept five hundred freshmen. Two hundred and fifty boys and two hundred and fifty girls…"

While the woman continued to talk about the academy's history and status, Youhna and Akira were busy signing the clipboard. Youhna finally found a slot for her name…on the fifteenth page.

"All these people want to take the exam?"

Akira looked over the girl's shoulder. "Well the woman did say that there are a lot of applicants trying out this year…"

"Yeah but this is just ridiculous!"

"I guess we'll just have to wait."

"And wait, and wait. We'll take ours in the fall…maybe."

The woman cleared her throat. "Are you two quite finished?" Youhna and Akira silenced themselves under the woman's sweet but bitter glare. She took two pamphlets off of the table and handed them to the two teenagers. "These are your study guides for the exams. Study them daily and the exam will be a piece of cake."

Akira flipped through the pages, catching glimpses of graphs and other kinds of data. "This is a lot to look over. Are you sure we'll be tested on all of this?"

"Everything except for the academy's name and that was taken out of the exam a couple of years ago." The woman laughed at her own joke. "Well I thought it was funny…when we call you it will be sent by via hell butterfly. Please be sure to leave your address and district number to make it easier to reach you. Have a nice day!"

The teenagers left the academy grounds in a state of unbelief.

"How will it even be possible to remember all of this stuff?" The pamphlet was over one hundred pages long with notes at the end along with information on the classes that were available for freshmen. Kido and Pre-AP Kido, Kendo 1, AP History, AP English, Pre-AP Communications, Pre-AP Calculus, P.E., and AP Chemistry.

"I don't know if I can do this…"

"We have to or else we'll be trialed for refusing to go to the academy."

Akira unlocked the door to the building and sat on the nearby couch, already studying the booklet. Youhna threw hers on the table and returned to her bed upstairs. Her eyes closed and she entered a world of flames and red skies. The world around her radiated heat that she was sure would burn up anyone who didn't have as high of a tolerance for heat as she did. Glowing embers swirled around her, creating an almost surreal atmosphere. Out of nowhere came the loud cry of a bird. Its shrill yell pierced through the fiery universe and echoed throughout the land, finally appearing from the cover of the scarlet clouds. The great bird was made of fire and its eyes were an angry scarlet that scrutinized Youhna from above.

Youhna watched the bird from below when she noticed dark smoke rising around her. She looked down to see her hand catch fire and spread over her body. The fumes that rose from her burning skin floated up to the already agitated skies. Youhna bolted from her dream to find the whole room being consumed by wild flames. The fire ran across the room in a crooked line and sprinted up the wall to the ceiling, chewing through the support beams. The tall wooden poles collapsed to the floor with an audible thump and soon burst into embers.

Youhna stared at all of this in shock until it finally registered that she did all of this. The fire continued to gnaw at what was left of the room when Akira burst into the room.

"Youhna!"

The girl snapped out of her daze and turned to her friend who was screaming at her from the doorway. "What are you waiting for? Get out of here now!" Youhna looked all around her for a way out, but there was none. Two pitch black beams came towards her and morphed into two giant rectangles that separated, creating an isle for her.

Akira's eyes were closed in concentration as he enlarged the length of the rectangles to keep out the flames constantly licking the sides. Youhna made it to the other side of the room safely and Akira let the rectangles combust into air. The room was slowly enveloped in darkness and stayed like that for a while. The fires were being smothered under the surface as Akira let the darkness retreat. A few stray flames stubbornly burned, but otherwise most of the fire was extinguished. Youhna shook her head.

"I can't control it…it's too strong." Akira simply nodded and let his reiatsu cover the room for the second time, killing the remaining flames.

"This is why we need to get into the academy before you end up killing someone."

Youhna decided to read twenty pages a day, finishing off the pamphlet in five days along with Akira who quizzed her throughout the week. By the end of Friday they both felt ready to take on the exam head on. A small black and purple butterfly flew through an open window to deliver the message that they had been waiting for. "Akira Okaiza and Youhna Auouye your appointment for your exam has been scheduled for this afternoon at five o' clock, please don't be late or you will be unable to participate in the exam." The butterfly left the way it came, leaving the two teenagers to stare at the clock on the wall.

It was four thirty-eight. It took a minute for it to sink in.

"C'mon Youhna we've got to leave now!"

"Right."

The two made a mad dash for the academy and met the same woman that had given them the pamphlets at the desk. The only difference this time was that she was giving out numbers to the people who had signed up. "Ah, there you two are." She gave them their numbers and let them through. They ran through the halls and corridors and reached the lunchroom. They were close. So close that they could hear the administrator reading the directions. Akira and Youhna sped up and slid through the doors before they slammed shut.

The silence in the room was deafening. Akira stood by Youhna who had more than one hundred eyes on them, they had disrupted the administrator. "Are you two going to stand there or are you going to sit down so I can finish reading the directions?" The two teenagers scurried to open seats on opposite sides of the cafeteria.

"Of course, only commoners can interrupt an exam."

"They're so worthless, why do they exist again?"

"Only to take up air and to waste space."

The three girls behind Youhna started to snicker. "You may begin on the written portion of the exam." Youhna decided to ignore the girls and took out a pencil.

"Look at her, she's so poor! I've never seen anyone wear such raggedy clothes before."

"And her hair, doesn't she know that she's a teenager?"

"She's probably from the Rokugan District."

"Where else does trash live?" The three girls snickered once more.

What they didn't see was Youhna's eye twitching and that she was clenching her pencil so hard that it snapped. The noise echoed throughout the cafeteria and onlookers around her turned in her direction. Youhna grabbed another pencil and started on her test.

"Oh look girls; I think we made the piece of trash angry."

"It's so easy to manipulate them. I wonder if she even speaks properly."

The more they talked about her the more aggravated Youhna became, resulting in the constant breaking of the lead in her pencils. "This is why I dropped out of high school to become a pop star." Flashbacks of how her peers tormented her relentlessly came to her mind. That was why she sat at the back of the classroom. That was why she begged her mother to be home schooled. That was why she tried to kill herself a couple of years prior to her death. She flipped the page to start on the other one, hoping that the questions would clear her mind.

Surprisingly they did and she soon found herself flying through the pages of the exam with an hour to spare. "Pencils down, the written portion has ended. Please make your way to the refreshment table and await the physical portion." Youhna got up to find Akira when she found herself surrounded by the three girls that sat behind her. The girl on the left had long blond hair with blue eyes. Her skin was like porcelain and she was curvier than the other girls, but seemed to lack something…

The girl opposite to her had long light green hair and violet eyes. She was frighteningly pale, but still beautiful. Her face was contorted into a sly grin as she stared down at Youhna with condemning eyes. And finally, was the girl in the middle. Her skin was the darkest of all which was a noticeable tan and her hair was navy blue with scarlet eyes. All of them wore the same silk kimonos only differing in colors.

"So what commoner, you don't talk?"

Youhna sat there unfazed by the three looming over her. "Oh I talk; I just prefer not to waste my breath on such insolent girls."

"Insolent? I am Mai Honshu, heir to the Honshu house." The girl in the middle said, rolling her neck. "I could have you killed for such rudeness!"

"The same goes for Tara of the Ayesha House!" Said the girl on the right.

"And Cree of the Karachi House!" The left one echoed.

Youhna stood up and left the three girls standing around the table. On her way out she grabbed a bowl of ramen noodles and went to find Akira. "What took you so long?"

Youhna only glanced at her redheaded friend and snorted. "I ran into a trio of 'nobles'." The two made their way to the school's barracks where two soul reapers were drawing a giant circle with a thin tail attached to it into the ground. The administrator stood in front of an anxious and held up her hand for silence. "This is a measuring stick so to speak to monitor you spiritual energy. You'll need to fill up at least half of this circle to be accepted as a candidate for this academy. Watch closely."

The administrator got on her hands and knees, letting her hands touch the tail of the circle. Everyone watched as her spiritual energy flowed into the circle and passed the halfway mark. The audience clapped as she climbed to her feet. By the time she was done demonstrating, the soul reapers were done creating the other nine circles. The first ten were called to the circles.

Half of them reached the halfway mark while the others hit a fourth of the required measure or less. The rows of candidates were reducing at a shocking rate and Youhna soon found herself along with Akira. Youhna and Akira approached their circles with eight other people surrounding them. They both let their energy flow into the circle, slowly at first but increasing rapidly with each second. Both of their circles were at the half way point and growing. Youhna's was filling up with a fiery red energy while Akira's was being engulfed by blackish-purplish energy. Both of them stopped somewhere between eighty and eighty-five percent.

They returned to the back of the group feeling slightly drained. In the next group were Mai, Tara, and Cree. They kneeled at their circles and let their reiatsu flow into them. The circles were now full of livid colors. Mai's was aqua colored, instantly taking up the halfway mark and proceeded on to somewhere near Akira's and Youhna's measure. Cree let her golden energy reach seventy and Tara let her green energy hit seventy-five.

The exam ended and there was an announcement that the applicants who were accepted in would be on the board outside the academy next Monday. Everyone left the campus and retreated to their homes for some rest.

* * *

**Author's Note: So…tired. Long chapter, but at least the exams are over! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Freshmen**

The dawn of Monday came with an anxiousness that kept Youhna up all through the previous night. Her heart hammered in her chest as she and Akira looked for their numbers on the large board before them. 'Where are our numbers?'

Akira nudged Youhna out of her thoughts. "I found our numbers, they're over here!"

Numbers 1547 and 1548 were on the far right on the second row. More applicants searched for their numbers, some finding what they wanted and others having to deal with the harsh reality of not having enough potential. Someone bumped into Youhna from behind and she turned to see a girl with long dirty blond hair and ice blue eyes. She was about an inch taller than Youhna's height with pale skin and framed glasses.

"My bad…someone pushed me." The girl looked around. "That bastard has to be here somewhere…" She whipped her head to the side, giving Youhna a mouthful of hair.

"Pfft. Hey watch it!"

"Sorry!"

"Hey look girls, it's the Rokugan trash."

Both girls turned to Mai, Cree, and Tara who were all standing there with smug looks on their faces.

"And look; she's got a new friend."

"She looks worthless too…"

"Another one from the districts no doubt, just look at her worn out clothes."

The three royals continued to converse about Youhna and the other girl when a streak of electricity ran pass her and hit the ground before the nobles.

The blond haired girl held her hands outwards. "That was a warning shot. Say one more word and I swear I'll fry you from the inside out."

Her voice was deathly calm as the trio of girls scurried away to bother someone else. She turned back to Youhna with a triumphant smile. "My name's Hayden. Hayden Hiroshima."

"Youhna Auouye."

"Akira Okaiza." The boy said from behind.

"Where the heck have you been?"

"We got separated fr-"

More people pushed pass the newly acquainted friends to find their numbers. The three of them had received their uniforms, schedules, and dorm keys then changed into the uniforms in the dressing room and entered the academy. Students roamed about the halls, in search of their first class on their schedules. Youhna walked with Hayden around the campus before going to first period, which happened to be Pre AP-Communications. The tardy bell rung as soon as she stepped through the doorway, earning a sideways glance at her teacher who was writing his name on the board.

"Ms. Auouye you would do well to come to class early. Find your seat."

The girl sat in an empty seat on the fifth row. The teacher moved out of the way of the students.

"Good morning class, my name is Mr. Kenos and I'll be teaching communication with things such as hell butterflies and zanpuktos. Like a computer, hell butterflies communicate in code and release the message in sentences that we understand often in the voice of the user…"

The class seemed to drift into their own worlds as Mr. Kenos droned on and on and on… The bell sang through the classrooms for second period and the students filed out of the room in an unorganized manner. Second period was much more exciting since Hayden was in there. The Pre AP Calculus class passed by in a flurry of drills and practices that left Youhna's head spinning while Hayden had an answer for every question that came her way.

"Man you suck at math."

"Shut up."

Third period was Kido and they were told to work in groups of three. Both Akira and Hayden were in that class together so they worked on binding a dummy across the field all at the same time. "Bakugan number 1: Sai!" The dummy started to bend backwards before suddenly exploding from too much power. Bits of stuffing and sewn together limbs lay scattered across the field. The head of the dummy landed by Akira's foot. Across the field, the teacher stared at the three teenagers wide eyed.

"Who did that?"

Hayden pointed at Youhna who pointed at Akira, creating a comical triangle of blame.

"Hiroshima, Okaiza, Auouye, see me after class!"

The three partners were given detention and had to create a new dummy for destroying the other one. AP English, AP History, and P.E passed without a glitch. Seventh period is Kendo 1. Youhna and Hayden once again found themselves in the academy's barracks. Wooden swords littered the field along with broken targets and other ruined obstacles. Among them was a woman with short black hair that was cut into a black bob with green eyes. Half of her face was able to be seen only because a black veil cover the bottom half of her face. A long sword with a violet hilt stayed sheathed on her hip as she walked towards the group of students already assembled in front of her.

"Welcome to Kendo 1. I suggest you grab a sword so that we can start." All of the girls ran around the field in search of a wooden sword. Back in the line, Youhna looked around the group of girls for anyone from her previous classes.

"What 'cha lookin' for?" Hayden asked peering behind Youhna's shoulder.

"Mai's in this class.

"You mean that little bitch from earlier?"

"Yeah."

"I am Ms. Soma and I will be teaching you the basics and complicated techniques of Kendo. If you work hard and give me your best you will pass this course with flying colors. If you choose to be lazy and sit on the ground and not participate, then you will set yourself up for failure. I do not give grades and I won't start this year either. Starting today, your body will be tested to successfully complete this course as all Shinigamis once did. Prepare yourselves." The group of students took their best defensive positions.

"What is that?" Ms. Soma asked, circling a girl on the far right.

"My battle stance?"Ms. Soma elbowed the girl in the back and she fell face forward into the ground, much to her classmates' amusement.

"Your arms are out too far and your feet aren't balanced. Keep your chin up and don't lock your knees." Ms. Soma surveyed the rest of her students, showing the weaknesses of their positions as she did the first girl. When she got to Hayden all she did was lightly kick her left foot.

"Move that foot in about an inch and you'll be stable." Hayden obliged and continued to stand still with her wooden sword in front of her. Youhna was next in line and the teacher stared at the girl in disbelief.

"Something wrong Ms. Soma?"

"Is there anything right? Your legs are too far apart, your toes need to be on the ground, you're grasping the sword too hard, and your back is too stiff!" The teacher tapped the girl on the forehead and she toppled over. "There's no way you could possibly last two minutes against your opponent if you stand like that." The girls laughed again, but the only laugh that caught Youhna's attention was Mai. Her laugh seemed to ring her ears and echo through her head. The bell rung for last time that day as they class departed to join their friends.

"I didn't think it was that bad…"

"Well, Ms. Soma sure did. You should've seen the way you fell!"

It wasn't funny Hayden now how would you feel if you fell and the whole class laughed at you?" The dirty blond shrugged.

"I wouldn't know. That never happened to me!"

"You've got some nerve you know that?"

"What are friends for?"

The two girls walked all the way back to their new dorms where they lived diagonal to each other.

"Oh crap!"

"What?"

"We forgot about detention!"

Both Youhna and Hayden ran back to third period before it was too late.

* * *

**Author's Note: Another chapter finished and I'm one step closer to completing my first story. I need to know how I'm doing so please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Conflict**

The cafeteria of the academy was buzzing with random conversations from many groups and cliques of students that were scattered across the large room.

"Hey Youhna over here!" Hayden yelled, waving at her.

Akira sat beside the girl picking at his flavorless toast.

Youhna sat in front of the two of them.

"I didn't expect to see you two here so early."

"You have to if you want to be able to take a shower with hot water." Hayden nodded sagely.

"Besides I had to get up. The girl that I have to live with is one of those preppy girls that makes you feel so uncomfortable."

"Hi Roomy!" A girl with chocolate colored medium-length hair skipped over to the trio.

"Guys this is Lindsay Kamamora." The girl waved energetically.

"Who are you two?" She asked, bright green eyes watching Youhna and Akira curiously.

"Um…I'm Youhna Auouye."

"And I'm Akira Okaiza"

"Nice to meet you two!"

The two other teenagers shifted in their seats uncomfortably. Hayden smiled in a way that said, "See what I mean?"

"OMG! I love you hair!" Lindsay said, examining Youhna's hair.

"It's so long and pretty! If only you would let it down…" Lindsay grabbed one of Youhna's ponytails.

"Ow! Hey what are you doing?" The preppy girl loosened her grip.

"Sorry, I got too excited." The bell rung for all students to get to class.

"Well, I'll see you guys later. Bye!" The energetic brunette scurried out of the cafeteria and down the hallway.

"Is it even legal to be that preppy?" Hayden shrugged.

"That's just a taste of what I have to go through…Every. Single. Day."

"Ooooh."

The three of them threw their empty trays away and went their separate ways. Ms. Kenos was standing in the doorway, looking at his student disapprovingly.

"Late again Ms. Auouye?" Youhna smiled sheepishly and slipped past him. "One more tardy and you'll have detention."

Not another one! "Yes sir." Mr. Kenos tapped his desk with a ruler and the classroom plunged into silence.

"I have an important announcement to make. Next month, we will have three captains from the Gotei 13 visit the academy. It is very important that you at least learn how to make your zanpukto reach shikai form. Which brings us to today's lesson of meditating. Everyone push your desk and your belongings against the walls and find a place where you think you'll be able to get in touch with your alter ego inside of you."

Youhna found a spot in the back of the class where gentle rays of the Sun fell through the window. She sat Indian style and closed her eyes. Ten minutes later she found herself in the same fiery world that she was in a couple of days ago. The bird was still there, soaring high in the skies above. The bird's cry pierced the silence and it took off in another direction.

"Hey wait!" Youhna ran after the bird, following the glowing streak it left in the sky. She was led to a field filled with beautiful cherry-blossoms that were a deep red at the tip of the petal and turned a pale pink towards the center. The girl touched one only to watch it disintegrate into embers that floated to the ever reddening sky. The fire bird landed on a golden perch in the middle of the field.

"This is my supposed 'master'?" The bird turned its head turned sideways as if it was trying to accept the fact that the girl in front of her could control it.

"You can talk?"

"Idiot, of course I can talk…how the heck were we supposed to communicate? Sign language?"

"Well, I was thinking something along the lines of telepathy…"

"How inept you are!"

"Excuse me? Want to say that again you big hunk of fire?"

"Did you forget that I'm a version of you? Honestly Youhna, you need to think about things before you say them out loud. How can a powerless soul like you even control me? Oh wait, you can't. Remember when you almost burned the house down along with your friend Akira? " The bird chuckled.

By now Youhna was standing there with a clenched jaw. Why did this bird hate her? Did she really hate herself?

"Well I certainly don't like you!"

"What did I ever do to you? I'm just trying to get to know myself a little better, but all I'm getting is that my other self's a pain in the ass!" The bird was silent.

"What did you call me?"

"A pain in the a-"

"First scorch, Orange Sun!"

Embers from all around gathered into a giant orange ball of fire behind the bird. A large beam of fire pierced the air and sped towards Youhna, gaining more velocity and power as it came closer. Youhna watched as the monstrosity came barreling towards her. At the last moment she dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding being roasted the inferno that rushed pass her.

"Bakudo number 1: Sai!" Another inferno surrounded the bird and vanished, leaving an empty perch.

"Now where did she g-"

"Second scorch, Scarlet Phoenix!"

The Embers swirled around her as the bird suddenly appeared from behind.

"What good did you think that was going to do? Tell me!"

A high ringing noise started off faint at first, but it steadily grew louder and echoed throughout the world and disrupted the incoming attack. Youhna felt herself being pulled away from the world, but it didn't disappoint her. She wanted to leave while she was still alive. Her eyes opened frantically to the whole class being all but blown away from the spiritual pressure radiating from her. The bell for first period stopped, but Youhna's spiritual pressure continued to increase.

"Calm yourself girl!" Mr. Kenos yelled, placing a defense barrier between her and the rest of the class.

"I can't!"

"Yes you can! You have to!"

The windows trembled before suddenly exploding.

"Relax!"

"Fine...fine."

Youhna let her eyes close and let herself drift into the darkness.

'_Drink up baby down, uhm are you in or are you out? Leave your things behind 'cause it's all going on without you. 'Cuse me too busy you're writing your tragedy, these mishaps you bubble wrap when you've no idea what you're like. So let go, so let go, uhm jump in. Oh, well what 'cha waiting for? It's alright 'cause there's beauty in the breakdown. So let go yeah, let go just get in. Oh it's so amazing here. It's alright, because there's beauty in the breakdown…'_

The waves of spiritual pressure started to recede until her spiritual pressure was practically nonexistent, safe for the fragments that stubbornly lingered in the air. Youhna stopped singing and all was as it should be…well, sort of.

The windows were blown out and there were a few unconscious students here and there, but there was no real damage done. Mr. Kenos glared at the girl who smiled sheepishly for the second time that day.

"Sorry about that."

* * *

**Author's Note: Alright, so I'm ending the chapter here for you sake. Chapter eight will be coming along soon enough and the song at the end is called "Let Go" by Imogen Heap.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: An Upperclassman's Advice**

"So let me get this straight," Hayden said, barely concealing her laughter. "Your zanpukto attacked you?"

Akira was chuckling also, while Lindsay was politely trying to hide her amusement behind a book.

"It's not funny!"

'How inept you are!'

The whole table burst into a fit of giggles.

"Talk about being saved by the bell…" There was even more laughter than before at Akira's jib. For Youhna, lunch became a chamber of torture.

"I hate all of you." The girl walked away in annoyance.

"Youhna come back!" The girl continued to distance herself from the group. What was the reason in telling them that?

'_Smooth Youhna. Go ahead and tell everyone that you're a hazard to yourself.'_

'_Shut up.'_

'_That would be doing you a favor. We can't have that now, can we?'_

Youhna let out a heavy sigh before rubbing her temples.

"Just leave me alone!"

"Nothing good ever comes from talking to yourself."

Youhna looked around the campus garden only to find a boy sitting on the ground, eyes closed. Silky locks of ebony hair flew in the gentle breeze.

"What's gotten you so upset that your last resort is talking to yourself?"

He didn't actually expect her to tell all of her problems to a complete stranger did he?

"My, you must be very powerful…I can feel your spiritual pressure all around me. That's not even half of it is it?" The boy finally decided to open his eyes. Golden orbs stared back at her curiously as he climbed to his feet.

"Might I know your name?"

"Might I ask why you're asking me so many questions?"

"Because I was trying to get to know you."

"But you don't even know me." The boy shook his head.

"That's why this is called an 'introduction'. I'm Hitaro Fukujori."

"Youhna Auouye."

"Pleasure to meet you. You're a freshman right?" Youhna nodded.

"Interesting. Usually students with spiritual pressure that high are six year students or are line to go to the Siritei for the Captain's Initiation Exam."

"Captain's Initiation Exam?" Hitaro nodded.

"Every year, three Captains come to the academy in search of potential captains and lieutenants to add them onto the list of candidates for the Captain's position. I believe they're coming two weeks from now." Hitaro slowly started to walk back inside when Youhna noticed a white zanpukto on his back.

"Wait!" The boy stopped.

"H-how…did you get your zanpukto?" Hitaro raised an eyebrow.

"Would this have anything to do with you talking to yourself perhaps?" The girl nodded, feeling ashamed. "Ah, I see. Have you come in contact with your zanpukto spirit?" Youhna nodded.

"I have yesterday."

"Let me guess, you and you zanpukto aren't exactly seeing eye to eye?"

'_If only he knew…'_ Youhna cringed under her zanpukto's hiss. "Yeah. Yesterday she attacked me…" The freshman closed her eyes and turned away, waiting for him to laugh at her like her friends did. Nothing happened.

"That's a common problem for those of us who hide behind lies and try to deny certain traits and qualities about ourselves. You're going to have to face her and be honest with yourself. When you decide to do this, I suggest that you bring a sword with you, things might turn for the worst."

When Youhna turned back around, Hitaro was gone. Hopefully his advice would work. The girl walked back inside with the plans of finding a sturdy sword for her upcoming battle with herself.

Fifth period, which was AP History was boring as it always was.

"Please turn to page one hundred ninety-two in your textbooks."

Youhna obeyed her teacher and turned to the said page. She drifted down the path of daydreaming wondering how long it would take to prove that she was able to control her zanpukto. She could literally feel the heat from the fire bird's first attack rush over her and she shuttered.

"Ms. Auouye please try to pay attention. This will be on your upcoming test and I will not repeat myself."

"Yes Ma'am."

Class went on without any further introductions. The day passed by without Youhna noticing her until she found herself at the familiar barracks of her kendo class. As minutes passed by, more of the girls in her class started to arrive. Hayden was next to the last person who showed up.

"Youhna!"

Hayden whispered again, but this time a little louder. Youhna had half a mind to ignore the girl, but decided to approach her to see what she had to say.

"What do you want?"

"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to hurt your feelings about that we just found it funny. We honestly would've laughed if it was any of us, please don't be mad at us." Youhna smiled and accepted Hayden's apology.

"I forgive you." The blond smiled and assumed her defensive position and Youhna followed.

"Tonight I'm going to confront my zanpukto in the garden."

"I'll be there too in case something goes wrong. And it most likely will depending on you."

"Shut up…"

* * *

**Author's Note: This chapter's a little boring for me, but I'm pretty sure that chapter nine will have more action. Alright, so it's gonna be Youhna vs. Alter Ego Youhna the next chapter should be interesting…**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Xiomara and NinaSky**

The silver moonlight barely pierced the clouds as both Youhna and Hayden sat in the garden of the academy, meditating. A long sword that rested on Youhna's knees glimmered eerily in the moonlight. Since Youhna was about to fight an internal war with herself, Hayden took this moment to meditate herself. She crossed her legs and closed her eyes, blocking out the rest of the world.

"Alright, I can do this. I can do this…" Youhna closed her eyes for a brief moment and saw her zanpukto charging at her. "Whoa!"

Hayden stopped meditating and turned to her shaking friend.

"Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine. It's just…" The girl shook her head and tried again. "Sorry won't happen again."

Hayden too closed her eyes and they both entered their own worlds.

Youhna found herself in the fire dominated world.

"Finally, you showed up." The fire bird landed with heat waves roaming the land around them. "Let's get this over with so I can kill you and go on with my life."

"A little cocky aren't we?"

"Yes, we are. First Scorch, Orange Sun!"

The familiar stream of fire raced towards the girl with the intent to kill. Youhna moved out of the way just in time to watch the place that she had been previously standing be consumed by flames. Her zanpukto grinned. Her master couldn't pull the same moves twice.

* * *

Hayden watched as the grey skies above her flashed and thunder rumbled. Veins of lightning quickly ran across the stormy sky as a thunder bolt suddenly struck the ground near her. In its place was a large leopard made out of pure electricity.

"Hayden…"

The blond stumbled backwards, almost losing her footing.

"W-Who are you?"

The leopard didn't answer. It simply stared back at the girl with curiosity.

* * *

"You want to know why I hate you?" The bird asked charging at Youhna who blocked her attack with her sword. "It's because you've always looked down on yourself."

"When?"

"When?" The fire bird echoed. "Multiple times in the Real World and a couple of times here."

"That's a lie."

Her zanpukto's eyes flashed dangerously as she forced her master to the ground, still trying to separate her head from her shoulders. Youhna struggled against her zanpukto's sword that stubbornly inched closer and closer to her neck. She felt her zanpukto push off of her and land on the other side of the field, sheathing her weapon.

"Get out."

"Wait what?" Her zanpukto turned her head to the side.

"Did you not hear me? I said _get out._"

"W-why?"

"That's the same question I'm wondering. _Why_ are you still here? There's no point in fighting me if you're just going to lie your way out of this. Just do us both a favor and leave."

Youhna started to protest when she felt herself being pulled away from her own world. The fire bird just shook her head and watched the girl struggle against the forceful currents of reality.

"If you want to win Youhna then you'll have to be honest with yourself."

The advice came from a comforting tongue that Youhna didn't know that her zanpukto even processed. Everything went black and then the view of the garden was back again. Youhna sat up in shock as she watched vibrant flames flutter into the night sky and fade into darkness.

Did she just get kicked out of her own world?

* * *

The voice floated through the air again.

"Hayden…" She turned around and was face to face with yet another lightning leopard.

"Twins?"

"She seems surprised Nina."

"Well Sky, it is rare for a shinigami to have not one, but two zanpuktos." The first leopard said, circling Hayden.

"Stop it, you're making her nervous."

"Sorry, animal instinct." Nina apologized, stopping in front of the blond.

Beams of lightning crashed to the stony earth around them. A bolt of electricity surged past Nina, towards Hayden. The girl held out her hands as if to block the blow, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes to the wild streak of lightning that glowed in her hands.

"Wow."

* * *

Youhna stared at the pale moon above her. There were no stars in the sky, but there was an excessive amount of both spiritual pressure and electricity coming from Hayden. Little tails of electricity leapt across the ground and scattered throughout the garden. Her face wore a peaceful expression as a ghost of a smile appeared on her face.

This sparked inspiration in Youhna and she decided to try again. Closing her eyes and drifting off, it didn't take long to find herself back on the field with her zanpukto waiting on her with her back turned towards her.

"I thought I told you to leave."

"You did, but I've decided to finally end this. Get ready."

"Please, I was born ready. The only problem is that I'm not sure if you can handle it."

Youhna charged at her zanpukto and swung a wide arc. The bird flew into the sky and watched her opponent from above. Youhna prepared her first attack.

"Way of Destruction number 31: Shakkahou!"

A series of fiery red balls soared at the bird who dodged them at the last second. Youhna kept firing at her opponent who seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Someone came to play…"

More fireballs soared through the air while the battle intensified.

* * *

Hayden felt the power pulse from inside her new formed zanpukto. Webs of electricity ran over the blade until they finally faded with one last pop.

Nina stood on the blonde's right while Sky stood on her left.

"Anytime you want to release us just say the phrase, _Stir the stormy atmosphere, NinaSky._"

Both of the leopards stood side by side in front of their master, waiting for her to say the release command.

"Oh, you want me to say it now?" The two leopards glanced at each other before nodding to her.

"If you want to learn your shikai then yes, yes we do."

* * *

"Stop denying it you pathetic little insect."

"Is that all you're good at? Throwing insults at other people?"

"Look who's talking. The girl on the ground hanging by a thread in this battle."

Youhna pushed her zanpukto's sword away and slashed upwards towards her head. The bird jumped back, creating some distance between them. A flash of light seared through the field and slowly faded.

Youhna's new opponent was a woman about a foot taller than her with medium-length black hair and scarlet eyes. Her skin was a ghostly pale and her body was covered in some strange armor that looked like a second skin, managing to cover all of the appropriate parts. On her forehead was a ruby gem that was shaped like a teardrop. The sword still gleamed maliciously in her right hand.

"Let's skip to the good part. Third Scorch, Crimson Flare!"

* * *

"Stir the stormy atmosphere, NinaSky!"

Hayden's zanpukto transformed into a long silver rod with a magnificent diamond on the top. The girl pulled her weapon closer to see bolts of lightning dancing inside of the radiant gem.

"Lightning Strike."

A vicious bolt of electricity crashed to the ground and sent shock waves pulsing throughout the landscape.

"Wow, this is my first shikai attack?" She asked, watching the air clear to reveal an enormous creator.

* * *

The woman came at Youhna again, this time swinging her sword at her like a baton.

"Say it!"

"No!"

The two swords clashed again and trembled to see who was the strongest.

"Why can't you just admit it? You have no self esteem from others and always underestimate yourself when it comes to other people. You even did this when you were a famous singer! Remember when you met Yuen Sanashi?"

*_Flashback_*

Both of the young teen idols were in the greenroom preparing for the show that was about to start in a couple of minutes.

"Miki your latest song was brilliant, how did you come up with it?"

The more experienced idol rolled her eyes as the makeup artist placed a little rose colored blush on her pale cheeks.

"What kind of question is that? I'm Yuen Sanashi!"

"I didn't mean it like that it's just-"

The younger singer noticed that everyone else was gone.

"Listen up amateur when you get this famous, which I highly doubt you will. Your skills will have improved from the first time you write songs, but I don't even think you can last that long."

"W-why? I can sing and write songs as well as you can." The older singer let out a haughty laugh.

"If that's true then how come I have more fans than you and more record sales than you? Face it Youhna, you're just a nobody singer trying to be something completely out of reach. Give up already."

The assistant of the show ushered the girls to the stage.

*_End Flashback_*

Youhna held her ground although her strength was wavering. Her eyes were teary, but she refused to

The woman smirked at the girl's silence.

"Do you remember that incident in high school?"

*_Flashback_*

It was lunchtime and Youhna was sitting by herself…again. Being the new girl in school didn't make it any better. Since she got there all of the girls hated her and all of the boys seemed to avoid her. What did she do to that was so wrong?

Her thoughts were interrupted by two girls. One was three times her size with short purple-streaked black hair and dim brown eyes. Her partner was a skinny little twig that stood a startling four ft. three with long black hair and light brown eyes. Both of them were complete opposites. Usually there was one more girl that completed the gruesome twosome. She had medium-length hair with green streaks and big eyes like those of a bug.

"You know the drill, give me your lunch money."

Youhna fished around in her pocket for the change that her mom has given her this morning. She pulled out the money and held it out to Zora, who snatched it from her hands and walked away with her big brute of a friend following her.

Youhna wondered where the last one was when milk unexpectedly fell from the roof, showering down on its intended victim, the new girl. She went through the rest of the day smelling like spoiled milk while showed their amusement as they walked by. One of her teachers even kicked her out because she smelled so badly.

That was a normal day for her.

*_End Flashback_*

Their swords were still meshed together as Youhna struggled to keep her opponent's weapon away from her.

"See? You're looking down on yourself again. When will you change? You have all of this potential, and yet you consider yourself nothing to someone who decreases your meaning as a human or a soul. Remember Mai and her posse? You could've stood up for yourself so many times…and yet you let her have her way. Now she thinks that you're one of those girls that she can run into the ground and still not say a word about it."

Ebony bangs covered the tears that ran rapidly down the other girl's face.

"Alright I get it, I do look down on myself. There was always someone looking down on me, I just felt like what they said was true…it's…"

The girl started crying and the woman sheathed her sword and much to Youhna's surprise, started hugging her.

"That's all I wanted, for you to finally be honest with yourself."

Embers flex lazily in the gentle breeze as the temperature suddenly changed to a wintery blast.

The woman cringed.

"Someone's interfering with your world. Quick, you have to leave before they cause any damage here."

Reality started to pull the girl away.

"Wait! I don't know your name!" The woman stood to her full height.

"My name is…Xiomara."

* * *

**Author's Note: I know this chapter was long but that was because I mashed together at least two chapters (Maybe even more I'm not sure), but I think it's pretty decent.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: The Gotei Trio**

Youhna emerged from her world on her back. What now? She sat up, letting her gaze sweep over the garden when she felt a wave of spiritual pressure. It wasn't Hayden's because she could see her breath. The blond was shaking involuntarily as well. Trails of ice snaked along the ground and up the trees, giving the garden a wintery look.

"I-I think we should go…"

Youhna nodded while standing up and helping her friend up.

"Stand back."

Youhna closed her eyes again and let waves of heat roam over the garden, thawing out the veins of frost that threatened to invade the rest of the vegetation. The girl felt an icy breeze rush pass. It was coming back and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the pressure or the feeling that she was being watched.

The white-haired captain sat under a tree far enough to not be spotted by the two students. He effortlessly increased his spiritual pressure to further test the girl's power. She was powerful, but unstable. The heat waves flowing from her were getting weaker then would rapidly increase before getting weaker again, until she fell to the ground panting on her hands and knees while softly muttering a curse under her breath.

"Damn… What the… hell was… that?" Youhna said between huffs. Hayden shrugged, feeling drained herself.

"I don't know, but I think it's gone now."

"Well, let us take our leave too. Help me up will ya?"

The blond sighed while jerking her friend off of the ground only to have her plop back on the earth with a thud.

"Ow!"

"Shh!"

"Don't shush me!"

A low growl from a nearby bush pierced the silent night. The two students threw their partner worried glances before backing up from the trembling bushes. A small brown squirrel left the shadows of the undergrowth, much to the relief of the academy students.

"Oh alright, it's a squir-"

A sudden roar took the girls by surprise as the greenery seemed to be uprooted by some unseen force. The large hollow emerged from the darkness with empty gold eyes. It possessed the body of a lizard and a mask of a bull. The monster looked around before turning its attention to the two startled academy girls, slowly approaching them with a murderous intent.

"Hayden hurry up and release your zanpukto…Hayden?"

The blond was frozen on the spot. Never before had she seen a hollow, much less battled one. Youhna pulled her friend out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by the hollow's tail. Both girls crashed to the ground and watched as the monster's tail smashed a large crater in the earth. The hollow roared and advanced on the two again. Another gust of icy wind flew by, this time carrying small parts of some unknown debris with it. Hayden caught a piece and felt it transition into a liquid.

"Snow?"

It took a moment to register that there was someone standing in front of them. White hair seemed radiant in the rays of the Moon. He slightly turned his head to glance at the pair behind him, but Youhna caught it. Turquoise eyes connected with hers for a split second before he turned to the hollow and sped towards it. A couple of flash-steps and a downwards slash and their attacker disintegrated into the night. The boy landed with the skill of an experienced soul reaper and disappeared. The temperature returned to its regular warm and breezy night, as it should be.

"So he was what we felt earlier huh?" Hayden asked while climbing to her feet.

"Yeah, no wonder I couldn't beat his spiritual pressure…captain level." Youhna sucked in a deep breath and stood next to Hayden.

"Let's go back to the dorms."

"Agreed."

* * *

"You guys look like hell."

Hayden and Youhna glared at Akira through bloodshot eyes. The redhead gave a charming smile at his friends before taking a bite out of his French toast. Lindsay arrived with her usual perky attitude.

"Hi guys!"

"Hi Lindsay." The others drawled.

Somehow, the girl always made the other people in the group feel like they were in one of those circles of obsessed people that needed to admit their obsessions.

"Did you guys hear that a captain came to the school last night?" Akira turned towards the ball of sunshine as did Hayden and Youhna.

"I didn't. Did you guys hear anything about it?" The girls glanced at each other and shook their heads.

"A hollow attacked two students last night in the garden. Both of them were too shocked to fight and a captain from the Thirteen Gotei Squads saved them."

"Whoever the students were they must've been pretty weak, the captain didn't even have to use their Shikai." Mai stated while passing by their table with Tara and Cree on both sides.

Hayden stared after the girls with one thing on her mind.

"One bolt…one bolt'll knock the bitch out of her!"

Youhna and Akira held the angry blond back from scathing the girl as she sped up her pace to the lunchroom doors.

* * *

Three captains walked the halls of the academy during first period with only one goal in mind. One of the leaders smirked from under his straw hat.

"Brings back memories, huh Jushiro?"

The white haired captain smiled back at his long time friend.

"This is where it all began."

"And this is where it continues…we're wasting time just standing here when we should be looking for candidates for the exam."

The shorter man said, stopping with the two older captains.

"Ah, Hitsugaya…you always seem to find a way to ruin the fun." Captain Kyoraku stated, readjusting his hat.

"It's Hitsugaya taicho and I aim to please."

The three captains split their ways among the three wide hallways in front of them. Kyoraku took the left hall, Ukitake took the right, and Hitsugaya went down the middle. Thus starting the search for potential candidates to choose for the Captain's Initiation Exam.

* * *

The students filed into the classroom while Ms. Isako sat at her desk. Students chatted back and forth to each other, exchanging rumors and what not. Ms. Isako cleared her throat to get her students' attention.

"Today we have not one, but three of the Gotei Thirteen Captains visiting the academy. I didn't receive any information on who they might be however, be wary. They may show up in your classrooms."

The class continued as it normally would despite the announcement that was just made. The bell rung for third period and the students left the room in an unorganized manner.

News about the three captains' arrival spread through the school like wildfire as the 'Gotei Trio'. The class periods seemed to go by faster than usual, not that Youhna minded. The day would soon be over. By fourth period, the topic was on everyone's lips during locker break. Youhna walked through the hallways by herself, picking up bits and pieces of other students' conversations. Two girls were talking about one of the captains that visited their class.

"He must be one of the hottest captains in the Siritei!" A girl squealed to her equally ecstatic friend.

"Did you see the way he looked at me?" The first girl shook her head.

"He wasn't looking at you he was trying to see me, but your head kept getting in the way. It's okay, I forgive you for standing between my future husband and me."

"Don't be stupid he's mine!"

"Wanna bet?"

The girls continued to bicker as Youhna passed them.

The girl was on the next hallway thinking about what the two girls said. She hadn't seen any captains yet and she didn't want to. Without a zanpukto it was very unlikely that she'd be chosen for the exam. She was right there and she knew it. She knew her zanpukto's name and had established a bond with Xiomara all she had to do was create her zanpukto before the end of the day. Youhna decided that she would skip lunch and meditate for the hour. That should give her enough time to materialize her zanpukto.

* * *

Akira shut out the rest of the world and entered his own world. Recently, he had also been working on gaining his zanpukto along with Lindsay who was meditating across from him. The two were of completely opposite elements. One of darkness and one of light. Every now and then you would get a flare of darkness from Akira and Lindsay would give off flashes of pure light.

…

Darkness engulfed the redhead in an inky mist that seemed like it would never clear. The sky was a gloomy grey and the plain he was standing on rippled in waves from a harsh wind that ran throughout the world. The black mist started to come together to form a great black snake with indigo eyes.

"Kizime." The stoic serpent looked down at its master

"You've come to materialize me haven't you?" The redhead nodded.

"Well, I can't just give you my materialized state… prepare yourself."

* * *

Light streamed in from all directions, illuminating a peaceful meadow. Lindsay smiled at her world and sat Indian style on the ground. A large white butterfly soared across the skies and glanced down towards its master with shimmering golden eyes.

"Welcome back Lindsay!"

"Hello again Radia!"

The two chuckled at each other's excitement to see the other again, despite the fact that they had last met yesterday.

"So what are you here for?"

The girl looked back at Radia.

"The Captain's Initiation Exam candidates are being chosen today and-"

"You want me to materialize into your zanpukto."

"Yes please." The butterfly sighed before taking to the skies.

"Wait where are you going?"

"Follow me. You have to prove that you're strong enough to handle my zanpukto form."

* * *

The rippling plains were now soiled with spots of Akira's blood as he kneeled close to the ground, trying to get his breath back.

"Give up yet?" Kizime asked, slithering around the exhausted redhead who seemed ready and willing to pass out.

"No, not yet at least."

At that moment, the snake's tail collided with his master's body and sent the poor boy flying several feet away. Akira hit the earth with a painful thud and rolled a couple of feet before coming to a stop.

This was going to be a difficult task…

* * *

Lindsay was led to an underground grotto with misty streams of light that filtered through tiny holes from the surface.

"Where are we?"

"This is your testing arena. Each zanpukto is unique in its own way which means that it has different trials for each person. Some choose fighting while others choose a simple test that proves that their master is ready to advance into the materialization stage of their zanpukto. I choose to test you with a simple mirror test. A zanpukto's spirit is only an alter ego of their masters except we have more of the power since we are the weapon after all."

Radia landed on a nearby rock to rest her wings.

"All that my test requires is that you need to catch the streams of light around you and fire them back at me with high velocity and accuracy."

The butterfly left her perch on the rock and glided under the beams of light, gaining more of a glow after each light beam she went under. She turned to her master abruptly and released a discharge of light. Lindsay dropped to the floor as the light rushed pass her and exploded into the rocky wall.

"That's all you have to do."

* * *

"Bakudo number 1: Sai!"

Silver threads flew through the air, twisting and turning as they went as they bounded Kizime and restricted his tail from throttling the boy. Akira held a black dagger to his zanpukto's throat with a smirk on his face. Kizime dissolved into the black mist from earlier and the mist slowly started to come together to form a black hilted zanpukto that fell into the redhead's hand.

* * *

Lindsay gathered more light as she flash-stepped between the misty streams as she went before making a heel turn to shoot a light beam at the butterfly across the grotto. Sweat dripped down her forehead as she watched the beam exploded against the wall as Radia's did earlier.

"Very good Lindsay, but that wasn't good enough. Try again."

* * *

"Sigh, Kizime."

His new zanpukto transformed into its shikai which was a large dark iron scythe with a long chain on the end.

"Perfect."

* * *

Lindsay shot a stream of light that was so powerful that engulfed the whole area in light before drilling through the wall over Radia.

"Congratulations Lindsay, you passed the test!"

There was a bright flash of light and the fair butterfly vanished.

"Where did she-"

Her foot hit something on the ground. She looked down to her white hilted zanpukto that rested on the ground and picked it up, examining the sword with delight gracing her features.

"Thanks Radia."

* * *

Both teenagers left their worlds in two different conditions. One bleeding from their forehead with aches and pains all over their body and the other dirty with dust and sweat. Despite all this, the two smiled at each other because of the one thing that they managed to have in common. They had both materialized their zanpuktos.

* * *

On the other side of the garden, Youhna was already deep into her own world. This time she didn't have to wait ten minutes, instead she had a measly two. The girl spotted her zanpukto on sitting on her perch in her human form, legs swinging back and forth. When she saw her master approach her she smirked.

"Ready for the materialization phase?"

The girl nodded.

Embers swirled around the woman, soon developing into a great inferno. Youhna watched as the inferno died, leaving behind a scarlet hilted zanpukto floating in the air before flying into her hand.

"My release phrase is _'Rise from the gates of Hell, Xiomara'_"

"Finally, things are coming together."

* * *

Fifth period came with anxiousness as well as incredible waves of hunger pain. Lindsay, Akira, and Youhna all skipped lunch for this period. All of them, (including Hayden) was very excited when they saw one of the Thirteen Gotei Captains walk into the classroom with a jaded look on his face. Turquoise eyes fell on the crowd of students as he looked around the classroom, examining every person and their spiritual pressure. He also took note that there were only five people in the classroom that actually had their zanpuktos.

The most noticeable spiritual pressure was emulating from the girl on the fifth row towards the right. That was one of the girls he had saved earlier, her friend was on the other side of the room on the second row. He turned his attention back to the first girl. Wasn't he the one that sent her to Soul Society in the first place? Oh yes, now he remembered…Youhna Auouye, the famous singer that couldn't take the hint that she died and the only soul that assaulted a captain.

Toshiro couldn't help the simultaneous rise in his spiritual pressure, he was pissed. The temperature in the class dropped considerably and a concerned history teacher wandered over to the fuming captain.

"Um, Captain Hitsugaya is something bothering you? You're freezing half of the class." She said in a hushed voice.

"Tch. Yeah, I'm fine."

His reitsu decreased and the class warmed almost suddenly. Youhna was releasing some of her reitsu, not enough to make her classmates collapse of heat stroke, but enough for the class to audibly sigh from the warmth she gave off.

Ms. Nikima, who had just regained feeling in her feet stepped away from the captain to the chalk board.

"Alright class today we have a very special guest joining us, as I'm sure you've already noticed. Please welcome the Captain of the tenth division, Toshiro Hitsugaya."

Everyone clapped in fear of being frozen to death. Ms. Nikima went on with class, explaining how the first souls created the system of training other potential souls to be soul reapers and what not. Time passed quickly and the bell rung. Hitsugaya got the names of the students that had enough potential to be captains and lieutenants. Leaving the class he jotted down the names quickly and one grudgingly.

Captain's Initiation Exam Candidates

Mai Honshu

Tara Ayesha

Cree Karachi

Akira Okaiza

Hayden Hiroshima

Hitaro Fukujori

Lindsay Kamamora

Youhna Auouye

* * *

**Author's Note: After weeks of thinking about this chapter, (and many headaches) I finally managed to write out another chapter. Everyone who's reading this hold on. We're about a chapter away from an early graduation…at least I hope. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Field Trip!**

AP students huddled together at the school's front for the assembly of their groups that they would be traveling in. Each group consisted of three people who were randomly selected by possessing the same number as your other teammates. Simple right?

Wrong.

Students were traveling to and fro in pursuit of their teammates, causing panic and aggravation among the other students.

Heather Lee, a six year student and one of the 'lucky' students chosen to become a chaperone on the field trip, sighed exasperatingly and put two fingers in her mouth. A shrill whistle seized all nonsense as everyone turned to the long dark-haired beauty who was rubbing her temples to relieve her oncoming headache.

"Listen up people, you are the cream of the crop and among you are some of the most intelligent minds in the academy. You all were chosen because you stood out from the rest of the freshmen here. All year you were able to keep your grade at a 3.5 average. So why is it so difficult to find your partners and to go stand with your teams on the other side of the field?" She asked, pointing to the area of land behind her.

Groups formed faster than expected and on the other side of the senior were fifty groups of three. Some groups rejoiced while others caused a scene that attracted everyone's attention like a moth to a flame.

"Ahhh!"

Hayden and Youhna stood there staring back at the stuck up royal that stood across from them in pure horror.

"I-I'm paired up with these two?"

And to think that things were starting to go well…Heather let out another annoyed sigh and made her way over to the trio of girls.

"Something wrong?" The senior asked, honestly trying to care.

"Yes," The girl with navy blue hair and red eyes answered. "There must be some mistake, there's no way I can work with such commoners!"

Heather raised an eyebrow at the drama queen. So this was her problem? Working with souls that were of a lower rank than hers? The senior couldn't help but to feel her temper flare and gladly released it on the dramatic student.

"Quit your bitchin'!" Everyone was silent again as the girl's voice rang clear and true in the air. "You're no better than any of the other souls so don't think that you're more valuable or more important than the rest of these souls out here! Did you ever stop and think that maybe one day you might have to take orders from one of them? Ever thought that one of them could be a future captain or lieutenant? Central Forty-Six doesn't choose division leaders based on their family's wealth! It's their power and skill that takes them to the top. Remember that."

The senior turned to stomp away when she heard a sword slipping out of its sheath. Quickly sliding out her own weapon, she made a heel turn to clang her sword into Mai's in a startling blast of embers.

"Who do you think you're talking to commoner?" The girl asked angrily, pushing against Heather's zanpukto.

Heather wasn't even intimidated by her opponent's spiritual pressure. Puddles of water started forming around the older girl's feet.

'_So she's a water type…interesting.'_

Heather smirked and pushed the girl backwards before whispering a quick kido to the earth. The ground obeyed her request as it seemed to grab a hold of Mai and twist her feet into the earth.

With every full twist, the royal sank deeper into the ground until she was up to her neck in soil. She pulled with all her might but couldn't free herself from the older girl's trap.

"I ought to let the ground swallow you whole for your arrogance, but that would mean probably staying behind for a year as punishment for killing a student. So you, weak little freshman be grateful. Had this been an out of school encounter, you would be six feet under right now."

With a snap of Heather's fingers Mai was vomited back up by the earth, now laying on the ground gasping for air.

"Let this be a warning to all of you arrogant, fearless, monarchs. If I see you torturing someone not born of royalty or throwing a fit about working with regulars like her, I will confront you just as I did this girl or worse. It doesn't make sense to kill someone's self-esteem over the fact that they're not a monarch. We're all working for the same purpose of reaching our goals of becoming the best Shinigami we can be for the good of Soul Society and the World of the Living. That's a hard enough goal to reach by itself. Let's not be blinded by such tribal things!"

The senior led the group onward, spitting near the still irregularly breathing Mai as she went.

* * *

Hayden howled in laughter at the recent events that occurred between Mai and Heather.

"Heather pwned your ass!" The blond yelled back towards the still conflicted Mai who was making up the tail of the mass of students.

She had never been so embarrassed in her life. Never before had she been so easily defeated and by a mere commoner. She also noticed how Heather only used her zanpukto to only block her attack and to push her away to put some distance between them. Just how powerful was that girl anyway? Even if she had used kido herself, it would take a hell of a lot of power to control the earth the way that she did.

Mai let out a frustrated growl as she tried to ignore another comment from an insanely giddy Hayden. Yep, she was screwed and there was nothing she could do about.

'_This must be how poor people feel…'_

* * *

"Stir the stormy atmosphere, NinaSky!"

Hayden's zanpukto transitioned into its released form which was a staff and she held it out threateningly, waiting for a good aim.

"Lightning Strike!"

A bolt of lightning descended from the raging heavens, crashing down on the robot hollow that was climbing towards Mai who was on a roof of a nearby building.

Ripples of electricity echoed throughout the training area. Despite the spectacular light show, the robot hollow was still in one piece. The miniature robot flipped itself over and slowly continued on its journey to Mai.

The girl got herself ready and released her zanpukto.

"Unleash your wrath, Aquina."

Her zanpukto morphed into its shikai form, which were two large fans that were decorated with different shades of blue and fancy silver frames. Water droplets swirled around the girl as she summoned her first attack.

"Tsunami Conquering Rush!"

A sixty foot wall of water rose in front of her and collided with the artificially intelligent robot before collapsing on all the other buildings, completely missing its goal of destroying the hollow, but leaving behind a very soggy and furious Hayden and Youhna.

Mai giggled at her two soaked to the bone group members. Hayden was a hare's breath from finishing where Heather had left off and Youhna was an inch away from cooking the girl in a blazing fire. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and let her spiritual pressure gently wash over her and her blond partner. They would be dry in a moment.

Mai continued to laugh at the two girls. She was tickled pink at the sight of them with their clothes clinging to them and their hair flat on their heads.

The robot hollow kept moving along the buildings when Hayden caught up with it, kicked it over, and used her zanpukto to cut through its wiring. The robot's glowing red eyes faded into darkness and died. She turned, receiving a glare from Youhna.

"What? That was the only way we could stop the thing."

"You could've slashed the thing in halve, wouldn't that have been easier anyway?"

The blond kicked the dead robot again.

"It doesn't matter, he's dead now."

"He?"

"I decided to call him a he because it looks like a 'he' to me."

"But it's a robot."

"End of discussion!"

The trio turned the corner to search for more hollows, failing to see a figure hiding in the darkness. The person smirked eerily before letting their form dissolve into the shadows. The stranger knew that they could take all three girls and get the job done within a couple of minutes without gaining the attention of their superiors. They just had to wait for the perfect moment…

* * *

They watched as the robot hollow burst into flames and left body parts all across the training area.

"Two more to go and we're to report to Heather and the other seniors in the front of the training area."

"Yeah, we knew that already." Hayden replied glancing over at a slightly ticked Mai.

Youhna took up the rear this time, trying to ignore her bickering teammates. She didn't like Mai either, but why couldn't they stay away from each other?

A foot scuffing across the ground caught the girl's attention.

"Who's there?"

* * *

It was quiet, too quiet.

It was then that Hayden noticed that Youhna wasn't with them. The dirty blond looked back to only see Mai, still in her own world. Something was wrong…terribly wrong.

"Youhna? Youhna where are you?"

Mai, who had been walking slowly, looked over her shoulder as well to stare into the darkness.

"We have to go back, come on."

Hayden charged into the shadows first followed by an unconcerned Mai.

* * *

Dark figures were moving all around her, setting the stage for an ambush. Youhna kept an eye on all of them, waiting for one to pounce on her, but they never did. They continued to circle her as if they were only there to confuse her.

"Come out now!"

The shadows revolved around her in a faster and more complex pattern that left the poor student flustered.

'_Youhna release me!'_

The girl did as she was told and released her zanpukto.

"Rise from the gates of Hell, Xiomara!"

Flames surrounded her and chased away the darkness that obscured everything.

"Thanks for letting me know that I picked the right girl, and just when I was about to give up on my search for a fire type!" The feminine voice stated before echoing into oblivion.

"Who are you?"

The student asked, holding her long sword out in front of her with three floating glowing orange rings hovering over the top hilt of the sword. The rings hummed eagerly in bloodlust.

"Easy, easy, I just need to test you to see if you're good enough first."

A black tentacle smacked Youhna away. The girl managed to block it in time, but there was no avoiding the wall of the other building.

* * *

A loud crash was heard a couple of yards away.

"That can't be good. Youhna's probably in trouble, we have to help her!"

The blond ran about ten steps before abruptly stopping. Mai stood there with her arms folded across her chest and a defiant look gracing her features.

"She's strong enough to save herself."

Hayden clenched her jaw. She didn't need this shit now, her friend could very well be on her way to a gruesome death and they were just standing there?

"Mai we don't have time for this, come on before something happens to her that we all may regret."

"Speak for yourself. I could care less if she dies."

That was it. Marching up to the blue-haired girl and yanking a thick lock of hair, she dragged her. Another sharp boom seared the quiet atmosphere and Hayden accelerated all while preparing herself for battle and dragging the monarch with her, not caring if she hit her head on a sudden turn.

* * *

Youhna was stunned, never before had she'd experienced being grasped by the neck and slung into the next building. Footsteps were heard and her opponent emerged from the pile of rubble that she created when Youhna blasted her into the other room. Her eyes were an angry shade of crimson and her hair fell in a short white bob that stopped at the ends of her ears. Her pale skin was covered in a shiny black armor very similar to Xiomara's that reflected the faintest light.

"Don't resist me."

Youhna scurried away from the girl only to be pulled back by her broken leg. She screamed in pain as she was jerked closer by the girl.

"You're going to be my host whether you like it or not."

The girl placed her hand on the girl's heart before she melted into Youhna's body.

Searing pain engulfed every inch of her and yet she didn't have the strength to fight or anything. Things nearby were becoming blurry and distorted until everything plunged into darkness.

* * *

They were too late.

Youhna was found on the floor of another building, breathing heavily. Blood and more gaping holes told the tale of a struggle, but what was the threat? No clue was to be found as the other two teens searched through the buildings.

Hayden hoisted an unconscious Youhna on her back and shupoed towards the place where Heather and the other chaperones were.

* * *

The sky wasn't it's usual angry red, an inky black was blending in with it. The flowers weren't the same either, on the stem of the blossoms were small black thorns that made them look dangerous.

"What happened here?"

"First Scorch, Orange Sun!"

A beam of fiery light surged towards the girl that Youhna recently fought who stood there staring at the attack that charged towards her. At the last moment she vanished, reappearing behind Xiomara and hitting her in the back with a whip of darkness.

"Give up yet?"

Xiomara replied with her second attack, hitting the intruder in the arm. The girl reappeared again, holding her now scorched right arm.

"So you still have some fight left in you, eh? I guess I'll just have to beat it out of you!"

The battle intensified and Youhna felt herself being pulled out of her world by a cool sensation on the injured parts of her body.

* * *

Heather added more reitsu to her kido and watched the wounds close up faster while checking on the girl's now fully recovered leg.

"Yes, she's waking up!"

Light brown eyes opened and Hayden cheered while hugging the girl that was still too weak to get up.

"Careful Hayden, she's been through quite an ordeal."

Mai stood a distance off, rolling her eyes at Hayden's theatrics.

* * *

Despite the hits Xiomara landed on the girl, she had lost the battle and was at the mercy of the white haired girl that stood over her smirking.

"Don't worry I won't kill you, but you will submit to my wishes."

A wave of disgust hit Xiomara and passed.

"The name of your new co-master is Reidyn."

* * *

**Author's Note: First, I would like to apologize to my audience for taking forever to update. Second, it's not what it looks like. I'm not in the story. It's not that I'm so full of myself that I added myself as a character. Earlier this year, I came up with a character named Youhna and her counter part's name just so happens to be Reidyn. I love the name so much that I thought it should have its own character. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Early Graduation, Brawl Destination**

Throb.

Throb.

The headache was getting worse. Five days after the fight with Reidyn headaches became a normal thing for her.

'_Reidyn, whatever you're doing stop. You're causing a killer migraine here.' _

'_I have to add a little bit of myself to this world or it's going to reject me. We're one person now so get used to it.'_

This was her new life with this mysterious 'Reidyn' girl. With each conversation the two would have, Youhna would always ask her one question.

"Just what are you?"

And Youhna would always get shot down with the same reply.

"That is a question that will be answered later in time."

If there was anything that would irk the girl more than Reidyn's constant 'blending' it was that she would never reveal any of her identity about herself. Her name is Reidyn. That was all she knew.

'_Sorry Youhna, but I don't have any data on the little parasite either.' _Xiomara said, sighing sadly.

'_Hey! I'm not a parasite!'_

'_You search for hosts, worm your way into their worlds while also attaching yourself to their souls, and make yourself at home while causing destruction to the victim. Trust me, you're a parasite and besides, this is a private conversation.'_

'_You can't keep secrets from yourself. Don't forget that I'm apart of you now!'_

'_You're not an official part of us and how can you say that when you've been your identity from us these past five days?'_

Silence.

Youhna broke the bond between her Xiomara and apparently Reidyn to continue packing her things. An early graduation alright, she along with twenty other people was to be taken to the Siritei for the Captain's Initiation Exam. She closed her suitcase and looked at her work, smiling happily. A year flew by fast and she was getting a chance to become a captain. Her smile widened. What if she actually achieved captain level? She would be in charge of her own division yes, but from what she heard there was a whole lot of paperwork to be done. As in stacks that were almost as tall her.

Who else would be there to compete for one of the three spots as captain? Everyone would give everything they have for the position to be a leader of the third, fifth, and ninth divisions.

Something slammed into her door and threw off her thoughts. She opened the door to see Lindsay on the floor in the middle of the hallway with her giant rolling book bag on the wall.

"Sorry about that, I'm such a klutz."

"Welcome to my world."

Youhna helped the brunette up and handed her the handle to her book bag.

Hayden stumbled out of the dorm with a duffle bag strewn across her left shoulder. Long blond strands were stationed in a state of disarray as she pushed her glasses back on her nose.

"Somebody waited to the last minute to pack."

"Shut up. I can do that since I'm one of the greatest procrastinators that this world has ever seen."

"What a great accomplishment."

"You can shut up too Lindsay."

Down the hall, a girl with purple hair ran out of her dorm and made a sharp turn. Two seconds later, a glass vase exploded into the wall.

"You worthless pathetic excuse for a soul!"

The first girl continued to run down the hallway clumsily when her pursuer walked out of the room. Yes, it was the infamous Mai Honshu gliding through the hallway with all the fury in the world as her entourage.

Her scarlet eyes simmered with pure hatred for her roommate as she attempted to wring the girl's neck, but was cut off by both Youhna and Hayden.

"If you want her you'll have to go through us first."

"That can be arranged I assure you." Mai was about to jump when she thought about what would happen if she killed her roommate.

With one last glare, the bluenette stomped back to her room with the promise of torture to her roommate when she returns.

The purple haired girl was on the floor with her hands holding her upper body up. Her pink eyes were wide with fear and she seemed a bit frantic.

"Sh-she's gonna kill me! What am I gonna do? I might have to sleep with one eye open tonight…" The girl shook her head, causing her frameless glasses to tilt and slide down her nose. "I'm doomed."

Hayden, Youhna, and Lindsay stared at the girl as if she was crazy. No one should be that afraid of one of their peers. Especially if they achieved their zanpukto as well. Yes, the girl had a magenta hilted sword at her side. Lindsay turned her attention to her.

"What's your name?"

"R-Rin Nakamoto."

"Rin, what the heck are you so afraid of? You've got a zanpukto, fight her!" Hayden said, punching her hand with her fist.

"I can't…she's way stronger than me. I've earned my zanpukto yes but, Yuhime isn't strong enough to take on Aquina."

Youhna raised an eyebrow.

"So you've fought her before?"

"No, but I've seen what she can do and-"

"And what? You'll never know what you can do if you don't try."

"N-no I can't I…" Rin hung her head in shame.

"Someone has some self-esteem issues…" Hayden muttered. Lindsay helped the girl to her feet.

"Show us what you can do. There's no way you could've gotten into this school and have a lousy zanpukto."

"O-okay…"

Lindsay put her arm around Rin's shoulders and led her to the barracks.

"Alright, we have to make this quick. We're to leave for the Siritei in an hour.

Lindsay, Youhna, and Hayden flocked to the side of the field and Rin stood in the middle.

"What are you waiting for? Release your sword already!"

"That was a big help Hayden."

"I know right?"

Rin continued to stand there.

"Okay…I can do this…I can do this…" She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Hinder all enemies, Yuhime."

The sword turned into a long shard encrusted whip that was braided with strands of silver. A truly dangerous combination for a weapon.

"Baffling Fog."

A thick fog covered the entire field.

"Crap! Lindsay, Youhna, you guys still there?"

Silence.

Hayden looked down at her zanpukto and saw trails of ice crawling up her sword. Her feet were starting to feel numb also.

"Rin you can stop now! Rin? Rin!"

No matter how many times or how loud Hayden yelled, she couldn't get the girl to stop. No one could hear her. It was as if this fog blocked two of the essential senses in the body. Sight and sound. Hayden tried to stand when she only managed to wiggle her finger. She was paralyzed.

"Damnit…"

The blond struggled more and finally freed her zanpukto.

"Stir the stormy atmosphere, NinaSky!"

The staff now lay in front of her facing the opposite direction. Good, at least she wouldn't take the full effect of her own attack.

"Lightning Strike!"

It got darker. Yep, the sky was preparing for the attack and it released a large streak of lightning that crashed into the ground, jolting her nerves back to life.

"Ow!"

Hayden stood up, running through the fog as the ripples of her first attack kept shocking her feet back to life until she saw Rin's figure and tackled it.

Both girls hit the ground and the fog faded in the sunlight. Youhna and Lindsay were frozen to the ground by their butts. Hayden looked back at Rin who seemed to be in another dimension and shook her.

"Rin, Rin!"

The girl's pink eyes gained their sparkle of life before the girl looked around.

"Huh? Hayden?"

The girls felt a surge of heat and Rin turned towards Youhna while Hayden kept her eyes on Rin. She looked paler than usual…was that normal for her?

The ice melted away from their bottoms and the two girls climbed to their feet, stunned.

"I thought you said that you're zanpukto sucked!" The blond said to the other girl with glasses.

"I-it does…" Hayden showed the girl her bruised arms and legs.

"I had to shock myself to get my body to respond to my commands. Your zanpukto's wicked awesome!"

The girl blushed and Hayden got up as did Rin. Lindsay looked at the clock.

"OMG! You guys we've got to get our stuff and get to the front of the school now!"

Everyone rushed back to their rooms, grabbed their things, and raced each other to the front of the academy at break neck speeds. Rin got there first followed by Lindsay and Youhna. In dead last was our feisty blond, Hayden.

"You guys cheated."

Lindsay nodded sarcastically.

"Explain."

"I have more stuff then you guys and it weighed me down so I win!"

There were twenty-four other students that were chosen for the exam ranging from freshmen to seniors. Everyone had split up into their groups; freshmen were in*-vaded the far left, sophomores were populated next to them, juniors were stationed in the middle, and seniors dominated the far right. Among the seniors' section was Heather who was talking to one of the other seniors.

"Hey, Heather!" Hayden and Youhna shouted running up to the raven-haired senior.

"What's up guys?"

"Nothing except for this exam… so are you ready for it?"

"Yeah, I'm confident that I'll win my fight against my opponent." The freshmen blanched.

"I thought this was an exam-"

"Don't tell me you guys thought it would be something similar to the acceptance exam. This is going to be a tournament for the three vacant captain positions and other seats ranging from second seats to fourth seats. Everything we've learned at the academy is riding on this moment…"

Three captains suddenly appeared in front of the four groups who seized their conversations under the leaders' presence.

The first one was a woman with short black hair that had longer locks of hair bound together in strips of white cloth with medium sized brown hoops at the end and a body that seemed made for speed. The second one wore a sadistic smile on his harsh face. A beady black eye stared at the students with a resolve to kill while the other eye, (much to the student's relief.) was hidden by a black eye patch. The last one was definitely an heir to one of the royal families of the Soul Society. His long black hair danced in the wind along with his white scarf.

Wanna know their names?

"I am Squad Two's Captain Soifon." The woman said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I am the current die hard Captain of Squad Eleven, Kenpachi Zaraki." The man introduced himself and flashed the candidates another sadistic smile. The last man turned his nose up at the other captain's antics.

"I am the Captain of the Sixth Division, Captain Kuchiki."

Star struck was the perfect word to describe the students at that point. How lucky were they to be in the presence of three of the toughest Captains of the Gotei Thirteen?

Soifon's smirk caught their attention.

"Follow me. We're taking this brawl to Squad Two's barracks."

The crowd followed her to the barracks where there was enough room for everyone.

"Let the brawls begin."

* * *

**Author's Note: Alright you guys I stopped the chapter here because I seriously need your help. I can't decide who should be a captain along with Youhna. Please submit your votes and the majority will win. Here are the candidates…**

**Mai **

**Cree**

**Tara**

**Hitaro**

**Rin**

**Heather**

**Lindsay**

**Hayden and Akira are out because I decided to give them the positions of a lieutenant.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: The Three New Captains**

'_Dodge left, block, swing!' _

More explosions rocked the barracks as five duos sparred against one another on the battle field.

Soifon and Kenpachi looked towards the fighters with interest while Byakuya stood there with his usual stoic expression.

Akira was once again cut off by Damien's spear. The other freshmen smirked as he pushed the redhead's sword away and blasted another kido at the boy who just barely avoided it. Ooh, he was determined that he wasn't going to lose the first fight of the tournament.

Splotches of blood trickled down from Akira's arm as he stood there, staring down his equally skilled opponent with a passionate resolve to win. It seemed as if time froze before advancing in a rapid pace with both fighters springing into vicious attacks and then breaking away again.

Damien prepared for his first shikai attack.

"Scarlet Slash."

The spear slashed through the air, creating a large red stream of power that pulsed through the earth, heading straight for his opponent. The attack slammed into its target and dust obscured Damien's view. The boy smiled in satisfaction.

* * *

Rin was struggling against her opponent Kim, who kept ruthlessly kept trying to hammer her with her two headed axe. Every time she put a large amount of distance between them, Kim would immediately shunpo to the girl and swing at her. Her thoughts were scattered again and she couldn't concentrate enough to summon her zanpukto. The girl swung a high arch at the vanishing Rin, but it was too late. The shy girl was gone. She spun around quickly when she heard a voice echo from everywhere.

"Hinder all enemies, Yuhime."

The thick fog swallowed the victim and its owner, concealing the fight from the spectator's eyes.

* * *

Lindsay was holding her ground quite nicely. Cree's power wasn't really all that different from hers. As Cree weaved a sun beam threaded web around the brunette, Lindsay effortlessly released a powerful stream of pure light energy. Both attacks collided in the middle of the battle field in a large blast, sending a blinding light throughout the division.

The light and smoke cleared and the two went back to sword fighting until Lindsay shot a kido spell at the girl.

"Bakudo 61: Six bars of light!"

A yellow beam shot out from Lindsay's hand and hit Cree in the stomach, where it quickly dispersed into six equal bars of yellow. The impact knocked the breath out of the girl and paralyzed her. She watched as Lindsay slowly made her way to the girl with her zanpukto shining brightly in the sunlight.

* * *

Hayden struck her foe again with a lightning bolt that violently ripped through Kishami's shoulder. Blood spurted out of the boy's skin as he stood up wearily. He still wasn't unconscious. Tired of playing games, the blond held her staff to the sky.

"Rippling bolt."

Hayden watched as large amounts of electricity gathered in the darkened sky, coming together in a circle and gaining momentum. A ray of electricity followed with a deadly collision that resembled an explosion when it made contact with the other freshman with such accuracy that the spectators swore that he was dead. The shaft of the bolt broke and Kishami was seen standing there with his zanpukto in front of him with his head down.

"Echo, Tyri."

* * *

Mai's sword clanged against Yumi's as the two struggled for the upper hand.

The raven haired girl launched herself off of Mai's sword and shot a kido at her. Mai blocked it with a kido shield and released her sword.

"Unleash your wrath, Aquina."

The zanpukto went to its second phase and Mai held her two fans out confidently. Yumi smiled.

"Slice through the skies, Kiome!"

Yumi stood there with a giant silver flag linked to a thick silver pole that had a sharp spike on the end.

* * *

Damien waited for the dust to subside when he heard a voice behind him.

"Looking for something?"

The ebony haired male turned to see a grinning redhead holding a fifteen foot black medaled scythe with a long chain at the end.

"B-but how?"

Akira said nothing, he simply started swinging the weapon like there was no tomorrow. He did say that he wasn't losing right?

* * *

Kim couldn't see or hear anything in the fog. It seemed to create a new world with no sound and sight. The junior continued to search for the person who was responsible for this when her leg suddenly went numb.

"What the-"

Trails of ice slowly crept up her leg and kept her stuck in that spot. She took her still sheathed zanpukto from her back and started hammering the ice on her leg. The ice was beginning to chip when Kim lost feeling in her right arm. The limb hung loosely from her side as she felt something sharp wrap around her left wrist. The shards dug into her skin as it yanked her free, but dragged her even further into the depths of the deadly mist. She could do nothing in her partially paralyzed state.

* * *

Cree had somehow found a way to break free of Lindsay's kido. The one of the threads was wrapped around the perky girl's arm, drawing blood and allowing it to leak on the ground. Cree even shot a couple of kidos of her own managing to hit Lindsay in the knee. The brunette tumbled to the ground and pretended to be unconscious.

She waited for the gullible blond to get close enough to inspect her work before shooting a kido at her. She missed, but that was part of her plan. A web of kidos exploded all over the field like mine bombs. One hit from the attack and Cree was down, bleeding from her forehead. She stood over the unconscious blond, grinning.

"I win."

* * *

Hayden couldn't escape the multiple attacks that battered her from every direction she could think of or turn to. Her attack was reflected back at her with ten times more power. Just what the heck was going on here?

The freshman plummeted to earth at 80 miles per hour. She landed, creating a large crater smoking around her. The blond wasn't out cold. She climbed to her feet wearily and shot a glare at Kashima.

"Dirty trick."

* * *

The winds on Mai's field were picking up. As Yumi twirled her flag around her, a wave of piercing gusts of wind would cut through Aquina's attacks and knock Mai right off of her feet. She managed to block another one of Yumi's hits with one of her fans, but still couldn't stop herself from being thrown back by the wind.

Yumi had the advantage. She was a both a long range fighter and a short range fighter. The girl would mostly stay in the long range and occasionally attack the monarch up close. Gashes covered Mai's arms and blood hit the ground with an audible splat. Yumi stopped swinging her flag and stared at the mess of her opponent. Mai smiled, she had figured out the secret of her zanpukto.

* * *

Akira delivered blow after blow without any sort of resistance from Damien. The boy could only stumble backwards as the redhead wailed on him. He swung his scythe back to deliver the final blow when his weapon clashed with Soifon's.

"That's enough."

* * *

Rin's eyes were cold as she attacked Kim without holding back. The girl would deal lash after lash at her and Kim managed to dodge her at the last second. Something wasn't right. Rin's hair had gotten lighter to the point where it was lavender.

"Just who the hell are you?"

'Rin' faded into the mist and left the junior standing there. Kim turned and felt the whip again, this time it was coiled around her neck.

"The last person you'll ever see."

The whip got tighter around her neck and the junior fell face first to the ground.

* * *

Hayden decided that Kashima was the most aggravating foe in all of Soul Society. With every attack she threw at him he would reflect it back at her with ten times more power. She growled as the attack crashed into her kido shield. She was safe for now, but that barrier wouldn't last forever. She had to think of something, anything before it was too late.

* * *

Mai's sword slash finally connected, running from Yumi's shoulder to her abdomen blood gushed out of her and the match was over. Byakuya made a check next to her name for the next round.

* * *

Hayden casted one kido after another at the now defenseless Kashima. She used the six bar kido to both paralyze him and render his zanpukto useless. The blond smiled in remembrance of the first day of the academy.

_Flashback_

_Third period was Kido and they were told to work in groups of three. Both Akira and Hayden were in that class together so they worked on binding a dummy across the field all at the same time."Bakugan number 1: Sai!" The dummy started to bend backwards before suddenly exploding from too much power. Bits of stuffing and sewn together limbs lay scattered across the field. The head of the dummy landed by Akira's foot. Across the field, the teacher stared at the three teenagers wide eyed._

"_Who did that?"_

_Hayden pointed at Youhna who pointed at Akira, creating a comical triangle of blame._

"_Hiroshima, Okaiza, Auouye, see me after class!"_

She laughed at the memory. They thought they had said the kido right too! She put her hands in front of her.

"Bakugan number 1: Sai!"

The boy hit the ground with an audible thud, unconscious. Hayden sighed, she thought he was going to explode like the dummy did.

* * *

Youhna watched all of her friends battle against people of their own class and juniors they were doing a great job! Everyone managed to defeat their opponent except for Rin. She glanced towards her section of the field to see that the fog was thinning out.

Everyone in the audience turned to Rin's section to see a figure on the ground and another figure on their knees. The wind dispersed the drops of water and everyone gasped at the junior who laid face down on the earth with her weapon frozen to the ground next to her and Rin staring back at the spectators, completely dazed with her whip still wrapped around the other girl's throat.

"What the hell?"

"Can she do that?"

"There's no way she can do that without some kind of penalty!"

"Is the other girl even breathing?"

"She killed her!"

"She should be disqualified!"

The audience continued to yell suggestions and opinions to the captains, who immediately removed the weapon from the other girl's throat and took her to Squad Four for medical help.

* * *

The battles commenced and Youhna was on deck. She won hers against a sophomore in about five minutes with her zanpukto, kido, and just a little help from Reidyn.

Heather won her match easily against a senior and she went to the next round. Hitaro also won his and advance to the next round.

The winners of the second round are the following:

Akira

Hayden

Heather

Hitaro

Youhna

The battles grew more brutal and the winners of the third round are the following:

Youhna

Hitaro

Heather

The Exam was over and the positions for the vacancies of squad leaders for divisions three, five, and nine were now filled.

The third division captain was now assigned to Hitaro Fukujori. Fifth division went to Youhna Auouye while Heather Lee was now in charge of the ninth division.

Everyone else was assigned to their divisions and ranks by rounds.

Hayden Hiroshima- Squad five co-lieutenant

Akira Okaiza- Squad five co-lietenant

Mai Honshu- Squad three third seat

Tara Ayesha- Squad nine third seat

Cree Karachi- Squad seven fourth seat

Lindsay Kamumora- Squad six third seat

Rin Nakamoto- Squad ten third seat

Damien Keigi- Squad nine forth seat

Kim Yu- Squad ten forth seat

Yumi Kyruko- Squad eight forth seat

Kishima Oyashu- Squad five fourth seat

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry for taking so long but, finally! We are out of the academy and into the Siritei! Sorry about this chapter, but I was a little overwhelmed when I was writing it and I'm not that good at narrating fights anyway. Who was going to win? Who was going to lose? Who would go against who? What seat would they have? Too much to decide on. As you can see, my thoughts are still kind of jumbled and I would like to thank all of you guys who stuck with me through this. Thanks so much! Please keep reading and reviewing, bye!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: First Impressions and Contests**

The Sun shined down on the Siritei with an especially bright light. Sakura blossoms had bloomed and little pale pink petals danced in the wind. The three new captains stood outside of Squad One's barracks and waited to be introduced. Heather and Hitaro watched the other captain pace back and forth with an edgy eagerness.

Hayden had redone her hair in honor of her debut and styled it into a long black braid and let it fall over her shoulder with a cherry blossom holding a couple of shorter locks on the right side out of her face. Becoming a captain didn't relieve her of being rather nervous about the whole thing. All she had to do was not screw up…that's not a tremendous feat. It can be done! There was a faint buzzing behind her and the fidgeting captain looked up towards the sakura trees above her. Masses of bees swarmed the blooming tree to pollinate and to report back to the hive. Youhna slowly backed away from the buzzing tree. She had a deadly fear of bees and she wasn't looking for any trouble. In her fear she didn't notice a giant bee fly pass her.

_Buzz!_

The girl jumped as it circled her for the gorgeous flower in her hair.

"N-no! Leave me alone!" She yelled, giving into her panic and swinging at the black and yellow menace. This angered the bee and it zoomed after the newly portrayed threat, armed with a sharp stinger. The girl ran faster in pure terror and got the attention of the other bees that now followed her for the flower. The doors of the division opened for the three captains, but no one was ready.

Heather was aiding her friend in the battle between Youhna and the bees and poor Hitaro was dragged into the whole thing for association.

The veteran captains turned their attention to the open doors and were shocked at the sight before them. Heather used slabs of the earth to smash half of the bees, Hitaro was casting a kido barrier against the insects, and Youhna was about to blast a kido herself.

"Way of Destruction number 31: Shakkahou!"

The scarlet orb of fire flew towards the remaining bees, blasting them all to pieces. The smoke cleared and the new captains turned their gazes to the veterans and smiled sheepishly. Even Head-Captain Yamamoto was a little surprised by the new captains' actions. All this trouble over a couple of bees? The old man sighed and introduced Heather first, followed by Youhna and last but not least, Hitaro.

* * *

Back in the lieutenants' meeting room, the entire group of male lieutenants (including Akira) were gawking at the new female arrival. The only difference between the new girl and a certain strawberry-blond bombshell was that the newbie had dirty blond hair and glasses.

Hayden swung her hair over her shoulder and she stared at her twin from across the room. Matsumoto smirked as she walked towards the look-a-like. Hayden did the same and they met each other half way. There was a pause of silence between the two women before they shook hands.

"Matsumoto Rangiku."

"Hayden Hiroshima."

"You drink sake?"

"Ah, I'm more of the margarita type."

Matsumoto smirked as did Hayden.

"Welcome to the Gotei Thirteen."

"It's a pleasure to be here."

…

Before Youhna and Heather could leave, they were approached by a woman with long black hair that was styled into a braid under her chin and placid blue eyes. Her features were gentle as she gave the two girls a warm smile and nodded to them in respect.

"Good morning Captain Lee, Captain Auouye. Welcome to the Gotei thirteen. You are cordially invited to the Siritei Women's Association Club for all female subordinates of the Gotei thirteen. I'm captain of the forth division and a member of the SWAC and you're just in luck, one of our meetings are to take place in the sixth division at 6:30 this afternoon. Please join us as our special guests."

The two captains accepted the nice woman's offer and walked away.

"Siritei Women's Association Club? Do you think the club's a sorority group or something?"

Heather glanced at the younger captain.

"I highly doubt it. These women will probably have many important issues to discuss."

How wrong she was!

* * *

A little girl with shoulder length pink hair stood in front of the group of female shinigami and cleared her throat while pointing to the inadequately drawn drawing of the financial downfall of the group while three poorly drawn dollar signs were illustrated at the bottom of the chart as the green line dipped down and was trespassing the borders of the chart and threatening to jump off of the page. They were broke and there was no denying it.

"We have no money." The girl pouted, stating the obvious. "How are we going to get some?"

There was silence among the mass of women until Soifon hesitated and then offered her idea.

"Would something like a competition do?"

Most of the members' faces showed hints of skepticism. Matsumoto smiled at her idea.

"Soifon's on the right track, though I don't recommend a competition. What she's thinking of entertainment…how about a concert?"

Everyone seemed to agree with her except for one thing that Lieutenant Ise pointed it out rather bluntly.

"Matsumoto, none of us can sing."

The strawberry-blond flashed her infamous smirk.

"I know someone who can…" She said, glancing sideways to Youhna who glared back at her.

There was no way she was going to get on a stage and sing in front of a bunch of men. Over the past year, the girl had really changed and she had lost her passion for singing. All she wanted to do was to meet her division and finish that stack of paperwork that was sitting beside her desk before the day ended.

"Youhna, will you-"

"No."

"Please?"

"No. I'm pretty sure you could think of something else."

"Maybe she's scared. I don't mind singing I'm actually quite good at it." Youhna rolled her eyes at Mai.

"Maybe I just don't feel like singing. Tell you what; let's have a friendly competition right now. You're first." Mai shrugged and stood up.

"_You're giving me, too many things lately. You're all I need. You smiled at me and said, 'don't get me wrong I love you, but does that mean I have to meet your father?' When we are older you'll understand what I meant when I said, 'No, I don't think life's quite that simple.'"_

"_When you walk away you don't hear me say, 'Please oh baby, don't go.' Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight. It's hard to let it go. Simple and clean."_

All the women clapped and cheered for Mai, who gave her following act a pseudo-innocent smile.

"Break a leg Youhna."

"That's Captain Auouye to you. Oh, and get ready to get thrown off of your pedestal."

The Captain stood up.

"This is also a song from Utada Hikaru."

Without further a due, she sang the song.

"_In you and I there's a new land. Angels in flight, I need more affection than you know. My sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah. Where fears and lies melt away. Music will tie. I need more affection than you know. What's left of me? What's left of me now? I watch you fast asleep. All I fear means nothing."_

"_In you and I there's a new land. Angels in flight. I need more affection than you know. My sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah. Where fears and lies melt away. Music will tie. I need more affection than you know. What's left of me? What's left of me now?"_

She stopped and the group roared in applause. Youhna smiled back at her competitor and gracefully sat down, beaming inside.

The little girl who was standing in front of them the whole time smiled at her latest idea.

"Let's do both Soifon and Matsumoto's idea! We can host a singing competition between Youhna and Mai!"

Both girls blanched. A contest?

"Oh no, no, no. I only did that to shut her up. I don't want to-"

"Well why not?" Heather asked. "You're obviously a pro when it comes to this kind of thing. Are you really going to give up to the likes of _that_ thing?" She asked, pointing at the obnoxious monarch across the table.

"Oh fine. You win Matsumoto okay?" The lieutenant smiled happily.

"Then it's all set, all we have to do now is make the posters."

* * *

It was 7:30 p.m. when Youhna made it to her division. Outside she heard a large group of people talking amongst themselves for information.

"I thought we had a new captain and two new lieutenants. They still haven't showed up yet?"

"We've been waiting for hours; they're not coming let's go home."

"This whole thing was a waste of time."

"Why did we even wait this long anyway?"

Youhna emerged from behind the wall and made her way to the front of the crowd with Hayden and Akira following her. Her captain's haori fluttered in the afternoon wind as she spoke to the retreating crowd.

"I thought you guys wanted to meet your captain."

As the group of Shinigamis turned, they were hit with a wave of heat and flinched at the incoming fire bird that flew over them and ignited the torches and exploded into flames behind them. Now they could see their leaders better.

"Thank you, Xiomara."

A dark-skinned woman stood before them with long ebony hair and a small smile on her face. Her brown eyes lit up with the wavering flames of the torches. On her right, was another woman with long dirty blond hair and rimmed glasses that wore a lieutenant's badge. Beside her was a man with crimson hair and violet eyes stood on the left, also wearing a lieutenant's badge.

"My name is Youhna Auouye, but I prefer Captain Auouye. These are your new lieutenants, Lieutenant Hiroshima and Lieutenant Okaiza. I'm not one that's too strict or anything like that, I like to consider myself as a rather caring and helpful leader, but the rules for this division still apply and I will enforce them along with their consequences. I'm not one for many words, so you're dismissed."

The trio retreated to their offices where their paperwork awaited them beside their desks. Both Hayden and Akira had half a stack while their captain had an overwhelming two stacks. Wait a minute, two?

"When were there two? Earlier today there was one!"

The furious captain noticed a blue sticky note on the top of the second stack, addressing her.

_Welcome to the Siritei Captain Auouye, here is the previous stack of paperwork from last week. The due dates for these papers are today, so I suggest that you finish them first. Good luck. _

_-Captain Hitsugaya of Squad Ten_

"Good luck?"

She glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes until 9:00 and that jerk had the nerve to wish her good luck? She would at least be up until 1:00 doing this stack. She sighed and got started.

Sign here, put your squad number there…

More papers were filled out as time passed in ink splotches and cursive letters. Oh how she hated writing in ink… Finally, Youhna had reached half way mark at about 11:30 p.m.. Hayden and Akira were already gone after they finished their stacks and left for their new homes in the division. Youhna longed to be with them.

She sucked it up and resumed her paperwork with the goal of finishing before her estimated time. Would 12:59 a.m. really count as breaking her goal? She didn't care; she simply dropped the now completed papers off at the first division and turned in for the morning.

…

Dawn came too quickly for Youhna's liking and she turned over, hoping to discourage the early morning into coming later. No such luck, the dawn apparently had no feelings and came anyway, forcing her to get up and get ready for the day.

Settling into her office, she started on the first original stack before she heard her lieutenants stumble into the room. Akira's eyes were dull with sake as were Hayden's, but Youhna could tell that she had far more than her partner. A scarlet blush swept across her cheeks as she sat in her chair, happily hiccupping the day away. She giggled when she placed a large brown bottle on her desk.

"Capshain,-hiccup- wantch some?"

She was beyond drunk. In a split second, the captain snatched the alcohol off of her subordinate's desk and asked the blond a very easy question.

"Hayden, who gave this to you?"

There was another giggle before Hayden answered.

"Matsumoto and I –hiccup- wentsh to the bar last night and-"

"You went to the bar last night? I thought you went home!"

The blond waved her hands drunkenly at her superior in surrender.

"I –hiccup- did! After a couple of hours I –hiccup- went home. I had twenty seveny shots!"

She finished happily before promptly passing out right then and there. Captain Auouye turned to the second lieutenant.

"Akira-"

The redhead had also passed out on his desk along with his partner. It was then that Captain Auouye face palmed herself. This just wasn't her day…especially with it being her first day. She's doomed! The young captain picked up Hayden first and took her to her home to sleep off the incoming hangover and came back to take Akira home as well.

Working on the last paper stack took three agonizing hours of ink spills and grunts of frustration before she was freed from her first burden as a captain. She turned the completed stack in and went to lunch with her division.

The dining hall was quite large and seemed decent enough to eat in, so she stayed. Members of her division passed her as if she didn't exist, chatting away what was on their mind with their cohorts. Why did she feel like she just stepped back in time to her high school days as a loner? The dining hall grew quiet and the tension between the captain and the lower ranked Shinigami seemed to escalate. Deciding to avoid any confrontations, she returned to the stony embrace of the streets. She walked briskly through the maze of the Siritei and managed to get herself lost.

'_Nice going Youhna and on you're first day too!' _Reidyn said sarcastically.

"Oh hush; I don't need this right now."

"Who are you talking to?"

The captain turned to Rin who was staring back at her with curious pink eyes.

"I uh, nothing. Why are you here?"

The purple haired girl turned her gaze to the ground.

"I'm just taking a break…what about you?"

"Would you believe that I'm lost?"

Youhna laughed at herself while Rin gave her a reassuring smile.

"Maybe I can help you back, you're in charge of Squad Five right?" Youhna nodded.

"Alright then, follow me."

The two traveled the Siritei, making twists and turns that Youhna knew that she wasn't going to remember. Ah well, she'll get it sooner or later.

"By the way Rin, what squad do you work with?"

"Squad ten, third seat. Why?"

"I need to speak with Matsumoto Rangiku. She is the lieutenant of Squad ten isn't she?" Rin nodded and took a left turn.

"This way then."

Many more twists and turns later the duo winded up at the tenth division.

"Thanks Rin!" The girl bowed and went her own way.

Youhna was left standing one of the many halls of the division. Maybe she should've asked Rin for directions first…

'_Did you spend half of your life lost on Earth?' _Reidyn couldn't help but wonder.

"Shut up."

After about thirty minutes of walking she finally found the captain's office. She knocked on the wooden frame of the door and asked for permission to enter. Her request was granted and she came into the room looking for the strawberry-blond lieutenant.

"If you're looking for Lieutenant Matsumoto she's not here." The Captain stated, not looking up from a section of the stack of papers on his desk.

'_No shit Sherlock.'_

"My, you're certainly talkative today aren't you?"

Captain Hitsugaya stopped writing and turned his gaze to the girl standing in front of him.

"Were you referring to me?"

"U-uh of course not…I was just- oh never mind! Can you tell me where Matsumoto might be?" The boy raised an eyebrow at her the girl's strange antics before dismissing them.

"The only place I can think of is the bar. If you see her, tell her that her break ended twenty minutes ago."

"Sure, let's just hope she's there."

Youhna left in a hurry to get out of the other Captain's sight.

"Thanks a lot Reidyn."

'_What did I do? You're the one that responded... I sure as hell didn't force you to.' _

"He probably thinks I'm an idiot now."

'_Again, not my fault.' _

"You're really evil you know that?"

'_Then I have truly completed my purpose in life.'_

After visiting five bars Youhna was about to call in quits when she heard a high pitched laugh coming from a small bar called "The Lucky Dragon." The Captain entered the bar when she heard the high pitched laugh again, coming from the table in the back.

Sure enough, she found the lieutenant surrounded by two men. One had red hair that was up in a spiky ponytail on the top of his head, while the other one had short spiky black hair and a sixty-nine tattoo on his face.

"Ah, Captain over here!" The blond yelled, waving her over.

"Matsumoto I need to talk to you."

"What about?"

"You're actions with Lieutenants Hiroshima and Okaiza. This morning they both came to work drunk."

Matsumoto looked surprised.

"I didn't go to the bar with them last night." She lied with a straight face.

Youhna slowly started to change the atmosphere with her reiatsu, causing the room to become hot and stuffy. The room soon cleared and the only ones that were left were the trio of lieutenants and the Captain. Out of all the things she couldn't stand, she couldn't take a liar. The heat slightly increased.

"That's funny, because Hayden said that you two went to the bar last night. Now why would she lie about that?" The girl said, her fingernails impatiently drilling into the surface of the table.

The boys next to her started to sweat under the heat.

"Come on, Matsumoto."

"She's gonna cook us…"

Her friends finally managed to convince her into confessing.

"Alright, alright, they were with me last night. Akira lost a bet, so he had to drink fifteen shots of sake. Hayden tried her first shot of vodka last night and had twenty-seven shots of sake. Not bad for a first timer huh?"

Youhna stared at the obliviously happy lieutenant. Was she serious? She ruined her first day by incapacitating both of her lieutenants.

'_Apparently she is…her grin isn't going away anytime soon.' _

The Captain refrained herself from answering her counter-part and got back to the task at hand.

"Matsumoto, in the near future; I'm going to need you to not get my lieutenants drunk silly…by the way your captain wants you back since you're twenty minutes over your break."

"Damn."

* * *

**Author's Note: I think I'm back. I pretty much know what I want from this story now and my zeal for it has been reawakened. Just in case you're wondering, the word 'pseudo' means fake and please keep reading and reviewing! **


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Hell Bound**

She held her hands up shakily as the masked Empress slid the sheathed sword into her gloved hands. The young woman's green eyes shot back at her ruler with hesitation reflecting through them. How could she do this? It was her first day on the job as a priestess and her first assignment was to hunt down and bring back her mentor dead or alive. She tied her new weapon on her hip and walked down the burgundy carpet to the ebony doors behind her majesty's throne as if she was in some sort of daze.

She took one last look at her fellow priestesses before she left their plain of existence.

* * *

Ryoka alarms went off all over the Sieritei and duos of the Gotei Thirteen squads were sent out to protect certain sections of the area.

Squad Five's Captain Auouye and her subordinates were charging towards the north section of the Sieritei along with Squad Six's Captain Kuchiki and his squadron. While the two of them were running through the cobblestone streets, animalistic snarls were heard a small distance away. They were greeted by the sight of mass numbers of hollows appearing out of small portals.

'_Be careful Youhna.'_

The captains unsheathed their soul-cutters and started the attack.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

Youhna watched as the veteran captain's sword dispersed in the form of cherry blossom petals and soon the air was filled with millions of these beautiful, yet deadly petals. It was an awe inspiring moment to the amateur shinigami who watched the hollows get sliced to bits by Captain Kuchiki's shikai. He leapt off of the ground and charged at the incoming hollows as Youhna also released her sword.

"Rise from the gates of Hell, Xiomara!" Her three fiery rings hummed almost anxiously. "First Scorch, Orange Sun!"

A mass of embers gathered in an orange sphere above her and shot out a powerful stream of fire, destroying everything that it came in contact with before receding back into a floating orange sphere.

Despite the two attacks that they delivered, it only seemed to slow down the hollows that were beginning to go on the offensive themselves. Ceros of many different colors were fired all the two squads at once. Byakuya appeared in front of them and muttered a kido.

"Hado number 33: Sokastui."

A massive wide ray of energy suddenly erupted from his hand and the attacks exploded in mid-air.

* * *

On the western section Squad Two's Soifon and Squad Squad Three's Captain Lee were wasting no time reducing the lot of hollows before them.

Soifon had taken out over fifty of them with her famous Shunko technique to decapitate the hollows who were foolish enough to be near her while Heather worked her kido from the ground.

At her command spikes of the earth's crust tore through the surface of the hollows' masks and they disintegrated into nothingness.

There was a surprisingly big hollow that had somehow masked its spiritual pressure and was about to blast Heather with a cero from behind when it was cut off by a blade slicing through its right arm. The hollow shrieked and turned to a face full of a medium sized fiery red orb and disappeared afterward.

Heather smirked as Izuru flash-stepped away to heal a critically injured shinigami who had a hollow rushing towards him to finish off the job.

Mai released a large wave of water and more hollows came to replace their fallen comrades. The third seat let out a frustrated sigh and turned to her second attack.

"Cyclone vortex."

There was a sudden blast of movement in the wind and water as she watched the hollows writhe in pain from the hurricane and disintegrate.

* * *

In the south section of the Sieritei, Squad Nine's Captain Hitaro Fukujori and Squad Ten's Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya were practically surrounded by shrieking hollows.

"Sit upon the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

A giant ice dragon emerged from his zanpukto as the sky darkened for the attack. Hyorinmaru destroyed over sixty hollows as Hitaro released his sword.

"Pierce every soul, Shuzo."

His white hilted soul cutter gleamed for a split second before sending a shaft of light through the clouds. His sword was now a white hilted Kanda sword and he raised it above his head and swung it horizontally. A thin white line followed immediately after dissecting the hollows' masks, killing their enemies instantly.

Others came, but Matsumoto took care of them with Haineko's released form and slit their masks when their heads emerged from the portals.

* * *

On the eastern section of the Sieritei Squad Eight's Captain Shunsui Kyoraku and Squad Thirteen's Jushiro Ukitake were holding up quite nicely.

Captain Ukitake's Sogyo no Kotowari continued to absorb all reiatsu attacks that the hollows used and fired it back at them with more force.

His partner, Captain Kyoraku unsheathed Katen Kyokotsu; using only one blade to attack hollows.

* * *

Aril watched the battle between the Shinigami and hollows escalate from an open portal high above the Sieritei. She had waited long enough. She whispered her apologies and left the safety of her portal with her hands extended below her.

"Shinku number 68: Firestorm!"

Two bright spheres of light positioned themselves across from each other in the atmosphere.

* * *

Everyone automatically turned towards the brilliant lights in the sky. The hollows also noticed them and fled through their portals. Closer inspection proved that the swirling lights weren't lights at all…they were actually waves of fire!

* * *

Youhna watched as the flames were about to crash when she felt her stomach churn.

'_Get away from your Shinigami friends and repeat after me…'_

"Tora number 22: Penta Shield!"

Five pinpoints of pink light quickly left the dead end they were sent from and spread out across the Sieritei forming a large pentagon shaped barrier as they went.

* * *

The Shinigami watched the attack ricochet off of the pink layer of light above the buildings. The shield lasted a couple of more minutes before spontaneously combusting into millions of little pieces. They didn't know where the shield came from, but they could literally sense power emanating from it and it definitely wasn't reiatsu.

* * *

Aril watched the shield break down and left through a portal. She had found out what she needed to.

_She_ was here.

* * *

Youhna was in a fetal position in one of the Sieritei's alleyways in the western section. She felt sick to her stomach and gagged again, this time vomiting its contents and turned away from the mess that she made.

"Reidyn what the hell did you do to me?" The girl groaned.

'_You should be thanking me; I just saved your precious Sieritei.'_

Youhna ignored her and tried to stand, but found herself almost completely depleted of energy and fell back down again.

That was the last thing she remembered before losing consciousness.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Yay! Youhna saved Soul Society with some unknown spell! Don't worry I'll explain it on the chapters to come. By the way, Hitaro's weapon is called the 'Kanda' which was a weapon I got off of this show called 'Deadliest Warriors' on Spike (I got bored while flipping through the channels…) Sorry about the really late update and please don't stop reviewing! **


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Enchanted**

"…_The playful conversation starts, counter all your quick remarks._

_Like passing notes in secrecy._

_And it was enchanting to meet you._

_All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you…"-Taylor Swift_

The pale moon shined brightly over the Seiritei, casting its milky beams along the rooftops and the overall landscape of the Soul Society. Youhna was released from Captain Unohana's care as soon as she was able to convince Unohana that she was actually fine and proved that her reiatsu had increased to a safe level although it was still pretty low for a captain, so she was placed on bed rest for a week. Youhna thanked the captain and walked away, when she was sure that she was out of the other Captain's sight she collapsed from exhaustion. Truth be told, she barely had the energy to stand, much less walk.

_Frustration and determination ran through her as she stood up against the wall. Her stubborness had also played a hand into this as well since she refused to be escorted from the hospital because she wanted to have some dignity when she left._

_"Some dignity…"_

_The girl muttered while taking a couple of more steps along the road still using the building for support. It was only long enough before she would have to walk by herself because of the gap that was placed between the buildings. She ended up on the ground and decided to just stay there._

_'Are __you gonna keep trying or just going to continue to lie in that same position?' __Youhna only shrugged, hardly caring if Reidyn got the message or not._

_Someone brought her out of her thoughts when they pulled her up roughly by her arm._

_"For some reason you always manage to get yourself into trouble."_

_"No offense captain, but I never asked for your help." She said, glaring at the other who took pleasure in the girl pulling away and from him and trying to use the walls again, which only worked for a couple of more minutes before she fell again._

_Instead of helping her this time, Captain Hitsugaya decided to lean on the wall beside her and wait until she asked to be helped._

_Oh how stupid she felt, sitting on the ground sulking in her stubbornness again…at this rate she'll never get home. Finally deciding to let him help Youhna sighed, which caught the attention of Toshiro who continued to lean next to her. She new what he was waiting for._

_"Will…you please help…me up?" She asked through clenched teeth. Hitsugaya didn't even grace her with a look._

_"You can ask better than that."_

_'You've got to be kidding me…what a jerk!'_

_Youhna thought._

_'Well, you're not acting any better. Just say it politely so we can get home.' __Reidyn responded. __'It's not like it'll kill you will it?'_

_She took a deep breath to calm herself and asked once more. This time, her voice was so sweet that she almost gagged from the phony kindness the emitted from it. To her relief, the captain decided to help her and picked her up bridal style._

_Youhna barely stopped her eye from twitching. What the hell was he doing? Out of all of the ways to pick up a person, he had to pick this one? Now she was practically face to face with him. Her mind frantically searched for another way to be carried._

_And found none._

_Slowly letting her mind wrap around the fact that there was no other way, Youhna closed her eyes and nodded, accepting the turn of events. _

_Hitsugaya flash-stepped through the air and kept his reiatsu at an unusually low level to match Youhna's so she wouldn't struggle to breathe. He narrowed his eyes at her._

_How? The attack on the Seiritei wasn't very dangerous for a captain…especially if they were working with another captain. Youhna had also been assigned to work with Captain Kuchiki, so how the hell did she get hurt? Hitsugaya's mind refocused when light brown eyes connected with his turquoise eyes._

_'I don't like the __way he's looking at you. What's he thinking?' _

_'I honestly don't know…'__ Youhna replied, holding his gaze out of curiosity. Breaking the stare, Youhna turned her attention to the stars instead._

_Turning away also, Toshiro wondered one last thing._

_'Did she have anything to do with that shield today?'_

_It was both a question that should easily be dismissed and something that should really be looked into. Going with his gut, he reluctantly decided to speak to Kuchiki about it after taking her home._

_"We're here."_

_The tenth division captain landed on the balcony of her apartment and she pulled out the key to the balcony doors and he entered. Youhna had gestured that she wanted to be on the couch and he set her down there and prepared to flash-step away when he heard Youhna say his name._

_"Captain Hitsugaya?"_

_He glanced at her from over his shoulder and she gave a small, but genuinely real smile._

_"Thanks."_

_He nodded and shunpoed out of the apartment, shutting the balcony doors as he went._

_Her heartbeat had returned to its normal rhythm when he left._

_…_

_Byakuya was watching his koi fish peacefully swim in the waters of his pond when Hitsugaya had appeared several feet behind him._

_"You shouldn't enter someone's garden without permission. Captain."_

_Resisting a scoff, Toshiro had taken a step closer to the monarch._

_"My apologies. During the battle today, did you notice anything unusual about Captain Auouye?"_

_"Other than her being absent for a long period of time, no. Where are you going with this?" _

_Hitsugaya's steely gaze settled on the back of the older captain's head._

_"Just curious is all. Did she vanish before or after the shield appeared?"_

_"Curiosity is a dangerous thing Captain Hitsugaya, remember that. As for Captain Auouye, I'm really not sure."_

_'Liar.'_

_Toshiro flash-stepped away in dissatisfaction._

_…_

_**Author's Note: Finally…I started the romance chapters! It took me a couple of months (as you well know) to think about how I was going to start the whole thing without it turning out gagging cliché. I would like to thank Taylor Swift and her album 'Speak Now' for inspiring this chapter with the song, 'Enchanted'.**_


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Nightmares and Desire**

_Darkness cloaked the foreign land as Youhna stumbled along with only the feeling of the rocky earth to reassure her. The stillness that became something of an ally was broken by multiple whispers and mumbles that thrived in the shadows._

'_Welcome back priestess…'_

_A chain struck her foot._

'_Did you enjoy your moment of freedom?'_

_A blunt of a dagger hit her head with a painful thud._

'_The Empress is very upset with you…'_

_A trio of claws ran down her back._

_More voices joined in on the attack until the captain had finally had enough._

"_Rise from the gates of Hell, Xiomara!"_

_A circle of flames surrounded their master in an almost protective barrier and silenced the voices. The only thing that was heard now was the hum of the rings on Youhna's zanpukto. The atrocious smell of blood and death lingered around her._

'_Look around you…'_

_The corpses of her friends hung from the trees by their necks. Both Akira and Hayden's faces were marred by the pain of their death as the stared absently at her._

_Long gashes covered their limbs as their own zanpuktos protruded from their chests as a girl with a white mask that held a sly grin on it sat on a nearby branch, swinging the blonde's death rope back and forward, making Hayden move about also. The girl's medium length blond hair caught the fire light and easily reflected them in flashes of gold._

"_They make the lovely decorations, don't you agree?"_

"_Get away from them!"_

_The girl taunted her further by playing with the zanpukto that was buried in Akira's chest, making the blood spurt out on the dry and eagerly awaiting earth._

_The captain raised her sword when the flames around Youhna instantaneously linked to a line that led to a Yin-yang symbol a couple of feet ahead of her. On one side of the orb, a figure stood there staring at Youhna through bright orange eyes._

"_Leave tis place. Get out of here before it's too late and you get trapped in here too."_

"_Wait-"_

"_There's no time, go now before you end up like your friends."_

_The girl swung her right arm and a chain linked ball followed her movement before she charged towards Youhna._

"_Get away from here!"_

_A large and heavy sphere soared over her as she ducked and tried her first attack._

"_First scorch, Orange Sun!"_

_A large shaft of fire exploded in front of her and all was quiet._

"_That won't work here."_

_Another lethal attack approached from behind before there was a sudden bang._

Youhna shuddered as the thunder continued to crash above her. It was a dream, but somehow she wasn't able to shrug it off like any other reverie. This one had disturbed her more than any nightmare would. It was almost as if it were real.

She almost shrieked when she heard a couple of dishes clatter from her kitchen. She glanced in the doorway just when the lightning flashed, illuminating a streak of blond hair.

"Hayden?"

The lieutenant froze at the sound of her name.

"Captain! You're awake!"

A bone crushing hug ensued between the two before the second in command released her superior.

"W-what are you doing here?"

Hayden frowned.

"Well, I was sent by the tenth division captain to watch you. He said that he had to help you home yesterday."

"Yeah…"

The girl turned to the floor under her feet while Hayden watched her out of curiosity.

"Are you okay? You seem a little shaken up."

The captain was still quivering.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine…so what's going on at the division?"

She asked, trying to change the subject and forget about the dead shell of her friend in her nightmare.

"Nothing really, Akira and I managed to handle every curve that's been thrown our way. Oh, I forgot to mention that Captain Hitsugaya will be over the division until you return, which is why I'm here. He requested that one of us watched you for the time being, so I'm watching you."

The lightning flashed at the perfect moment as the dirty blond leaned forward, watching Youhna intensely.

"Okay, that's creepy please stop."

Hayden giggled.

"Joy killer. By the way, Hitsugaya taicho said that he was going to stop by to talk to you about something. "

That got Youhna's attention.

"Really, did he say why he was coming?"

Hayden shook her head.

"By the way, Hitaro and Heather said to get better soon."

"When you get the chance, tell them that I'll try to."

…

Akira scribbled his signature on another leaf of paper before glancing at the stormy sky outside of his window.

Thunder roared again as lightning ran in jagged lines across the sky. Large drops of water slammed into the window, creating a pitter-patter rhythm against the glass. The sky churned with angry looking clouds about as black as night, completely blocking the sun's rays from reaching all of Soul Society.

Oh how he longed to break free of his curiosity of the squall and finish his paperwork, but he couldn't stop looking at the pouring rain outside. For some reason it was actually a sight to see. The winds were starting to pick up now, carrying leaves and other debris with it. The trees bowed and waved violently as they took the brunt of the storm.

"Where's Hayden?"

No one had bothered to tell him that she was helping take care of his captain. His mauve colored eyes finally dethatched themselves from what was happening outside the window and moved to the clock.

It was 8:00 a.m. when he heard the office door slide open.

Instead of catching a glimpse of dirty blond, he spotted white. Hitsugaya approached the desk to retrieve a couple of papers that the first division left there yesterday.

"I should inform you that Lieutenant Hiroshima is taking care of your Taicho, so she will not be here for a week."

The captain gathered the papers and headed towards the door.

"So you're not staying either."

Akira's gaze continued to follow his transitory taicho out of the door.

"I have some papers that your captain needs to sign. I'll return later."

The lieutenant nodded at the taicho as he disappeared into the chaotic weather.

…

Three knocks rapped the door and Hayden paused from her place in the kitchen.

"Don't worry about it Hayden, I'll get it."

Youhna said as she finished blow drying her hair and quietly walked down the hallway. She wrapped her robe tighter around her as she peeked out of the hole in the door and gasped. There was no time to change so she reluctantly opened the door.

…

There was a click on the other side on the door before the door budged to show a surprised looking Youhna in a silky red bath robe that was outlined in an elegant gold. Her lengthy black hair fell around her as her dark locks caught the glow of a nearby lamp and radiated on her brown skin. A small smile tugged on her lips as she gestured for him to come inside.

Hitsugaya couldn't keep his eyes from wandering down the other captain's body. Something sparked in his mind and sent an impulse of heat that traveled to his face in an instant.

She sent an inquisitive glance over her shoulder.

"Did you need to ask me something?"

'_Yeah, do you consider the way you're dressed appropriate right now?'_

The boy's face reddened at the notion under the fire light. He leisurely turned his gaze upwards towards her and almost stopped breathing.

Those light brown eyes gleamed as she watched her guest became flustered underneath her interpretive stare.

'It doesn't take much to arouse you does it?' Hyorinmaru shook his head at his master's behavior.

"Captain Hitsugaya?"

'_Answer her already!'_

"Yes." He replied in a clipped tone that was meant for professionalism. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Head Captain Yamamoto assigned a regiment of your division members to the real world for a series of hollow attacks that have been occurring South of Karakura Town. All you need to do is sign these for your consent."

Youhna nodded before tugging a pen free from one of the pen holders on her nearby desk.

"Alright," She agreed, signing the documents before looking back at him. "Was that all?"

The white-haired captain nodded before standing up and heading towards the door. There was no way he could ask her anything when she was dressed like that, or lack there of…

Toshiro winced at his hormones as he turned the knob and was greeted by the hostility of the wind, but anything was better than her at the moment. With a subtle nod to her, he vanished.

….

Hayden emerged from her hiding place in the kitchen, grinning like there was no tomorrow. She had seen everything from the way Captain Hitsugaya stared at Youhna when her back was turned to the way her captain had practically reduced the other to a blubbering idiot.

'_Good job Youhna.'_

…

**Author's Note: Hi you guys, I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in forever! I have no excuse that'll help other than I was distracted with life and Soul Eater, which rocks by the way. And crap, what did I just write? This is probably why you shouldn't force your story along and I think I might be reading too many romance stories…oh well, on to chapter 18 and keep reviewing so I can be encouraged to continue please!**


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